Bhubaneswar: Elephant census will start in the state from today. The forest department has made all preparations for this. This count will continue till 24th i.e. for 3 days. A team has been deployed to count the elephants. Platforms have been prepared for them on big trees in different places in the forest. Out of the 51 divisions of the state, 46 divisions have elephant movement. Then the elephants will be counted for 24 hours, day or night.
There is no movement of elephants in 5 districts including Malkangiri, Koraput, Puri, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur. Therefore, except this district, elephants are present in all the other 25 districts. 1136 stages have been prepared in the forests of 46 divisions. It will be counted sitting in the watch tower in the forest. Daily training has been given to the forest staff for this. Elephant counting has started from 6 am today. This calculation will last for 3 days. Later, the reports from different ranges and circles will be tallied and the elephant census report will be published.
PCCF Sushant Nand said that drone cameras will be used for the first time in counting. Elephant census is conducted in the state once every 2 years. But the elephants were not counted for the last 7 years. The last time elephants were counted in the state was in 2017. At that time the total number of elephants in the state was 1976. According to the information, the counting of Kalpataru tiger is going on in the state. Kalpataru tiger are being counted in 51 divisions of the state. Kalpataru tiger count will start from 1st of this month and will continue for 40 days.
