Second Phase Tiger Census In Odisha Begins

Bhubaneswar: The second phase Tiger census began in all divisional forests in Odisha on Friday.

The census work would continue for a week in Odisha and across the country and conclude on February 23.

“The census work has begun in 38 Forest divisions where nearly 900 CCTV cameras have been installed at various locations in the core areas,” Secretary, Forest and Environment, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra told media persons here.

He said the forest staffs engaged in the census work have been trained by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Mohapatra also hoped that compared to the tiger population which was 40 in Odisha last year, the number of tigers this year would increase this year following reports about the movement of more tigers in the core areas of Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district and the reserve forest area in Rayagada district.

Asked about the details of the tiger census, Chief Wildlife Warden, Odisha, Sandip Tripathy said for the first time in the country including Odisha, the tiger census would be conducted four phases.

“In the first phase, the Forest staffs have taken the photos on the movement of tigers in different forest divisions. In the second phase census which began today, more CCTV cameras have been put up inside the core areas including Similipal, Satkosia and Sunabeda forest divisions to track the movement of the tigers. In this phase, the excreta and leftover food of the tigers would be collected” he said.

Tripathy further said apart from tiger census, the Forest staffs would also conduct a survey of the number of deer, Sambhars and other animals to determine the food stock of the tigers. Apart from this, they would also survey the number of other predators like the leopard and hyena in their respective forest divisions, he added.

Talking about the census methodology, Tripathy said the basic methodology during the census would be double sampling based on ground-based surveys for tiger signs and actual images captured on camera-traps, along with statistical extrapolation.

“After the conclusion of the second phase census on February 23, the state Forest Department would prepare a report. In the third phase census which will be concluded before March 15, the Forest department would examine the video image, pug marks, excreta and the leftover food of the tigers collected in the second phase census. The Department later will compile a detailed report and submit to the WII on March 15. After receiving the report, the WII would conduct the fourth and final phase survey of the tigers in the state. The WII will come out with its final report on the exact number of tigers in Odisha and other states between June and August this year,” he informed.