Leopard Census Kicks Off In Odisha; Elephant Count To Be Conducted For 3 Days This Month

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has launched its own leopard enumeration to ascertain the exact population of the big cats in the state, while elephant census is slated to be conducted for three days from May 22.

According to official sources, the All-Odisha Leopard Estimation is being conducted in 51 forest divisions across the state using trap camera technique as an indirect sighting method. As many as 3,312 trap cameras are being put to use for the purpose.

The trap camera images of leopards obtained during the Tiger Estimation Exercise, held between September 15 and January 31, are being used as reference for this exercise.

Close monitoring for leopards will be carried out in tiger reserves where a pair of trap camera will be used in every 2km X 2km grid, while in other areas including wildlife sanctuaries five pairs of trap cameras will be installed in every 25 square km, an official from the department said.

Camera traps have already been distributed for the enumeration in the Similipal Tiger Reserve.

The state government decided to conduct its own leopard census in March after the Status of Leopard in India 2022 report pointed out that leopard population in Odisha has recorded a ‘significant’ decline. As per the report, the total number of leopards in the state in 2022 stood at 568 – around 192 less than the previous count of 760 in 2018.

The fifth cycle of leopard population estimation, carried out by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in collaboration with state Forest departments, underlined that the major efforts of leopard population recovery in the state is restricted to tiger reserves.

Apart from the leopard count, the state government will conduct the elephant census from May 22 to 24 after a gap of seven years. The All-Odisha Elephant Estimation 2024 will be held in 43 divisions using direct count method.

The last elephant census in the state had been undertaken in 2017. The state had recorded a total head count of 1,976, a marginal rise from the previous census figure of 1,954 in 2015.

The exercise could not be taken up in all these years due to several reasons, including cyclone Fani in May, 2019 and subsequent outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Following reports of rampant poaching, including in protected areas of Similipal, led to the decision to undertake the elephant count exercise.