Wildlife census conducted at seven forest ranges

The thee-day wildlife census concluded here on Sunday.

Over 50 volunteers from various environmental organisations along with forest department personnel conducted the census at seven forest ranges here.

According to officials, volunteers from the Salem Nature and Wildlife Trust and the World Wildlife Fund team from Coimbatore took part in the three-day census which began here on Friday. The volunteers were split into 20 teams and each team was accompanied by a forest department personnel. The teams conducted the census at Mettur, Yercaud, Dhanishpet, Shevaroyan North, Shevroyan South, Kalvarayan Hills and Vazhappadi.

The participants were oriented on census techniques on day one and they were indulged in field work during day two and three. V.Gokul from the Salem Nature and Wildlife Trust said that the census was conducted primarily between 6 a.m and 11 a.m and 2.30 p.m and 6 p.m on both days. He added that the average age of participating volunteers would be around 26 years and this census would help gain new insights on wildlife in Western Ghats here.

“The volunteers were oriented on ways to collect data regarding animals based on their scat, sound, tree markings, urine spray, its footprints and various others. Based on the identity marks, the GPS location, time, name of the species and other remarks are noted”, said Mr. Gokul. According to volunteers, spotted deer, Indian gaur, sambar deer, jungle cat and sloth beers were sighted in the region.

District Forest Officer A.Periasamy said that once the the census data is correlated, it would help us gain insight on wildlife population in the region, types of species and their abundance here. “We would also be able to identify populated areas of different species here,” he said