Kerala to conduct census of Wild elephants, tigers in state in April , May

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 26 (BPNS)

The Kerala forest department will be conducting a census of tigers and elephants in the months of April and May. The state forest minister, A.K. Saseendran told media persons that the census of tigers in Wayanad forest division will be taken at first which will be conducted during the first week of April. He said that the census of Wild elephants will be taken on May 17 and 18.

The Chief Wild Life warden will supervise the counting of elephants and tigers and the Additional Principal Chief Conservator will be the nodal officer for the surveys at the state level.

The census of tigers will take place at Wayanad and Kannur forest divisions which comprise the wildlife sanctuaries of Aralam and Kottiyoor, parts of Wayand North and South divisions, and the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary.

The forest department will install camera traps at 312 locations that were previously installed during the All India Tiger census in 2018 and 2022 to estimate the exact number of tigers.

The elephant survey will be conducted on May 17 and 18^th and the finer details will be chalked out in the days to come that include the number of teams required for a comprehensive census as well as the gadgets and other equipment required for the same.