Kerala: Wild elephant inhabitants declines by 58 per cent, solely 84 tigers in Wayanad

By Express News Service

KOCHI: Amidst the growing man-animal battle which has led to widespread protests within the excessive ranges, a statewide enumeration performed by the forest division revealed that the wild elephant inhabitants has declined by 58.19% in Kerala over the previous 5 years.

As per the enumeration performed in 2017, Kerala had 5,706 wild elephants, however the inhabitants declined to 2,386 in 2023.

Meanwhile, an enumeration of the tiger inhabitants in Wayanad wildlife sanctuary revealed that the inhabitants has come right down to 84 from 120 in 2018. 

Revealing the figures at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram, forest minister A Ok Saseendran stated the rationale for the drastic decline in elephant inhabitants could possibly be migration to Karnataka forests.

The enumeration was performed throughout all south Indian states from May 17 to 19, 2023. The elephant census was performed throughout the identical interval in 2017.

According to authorities, local weather performs a big position in elephant migration. During the 2017 enumeration, elephants migrated to Kerala as dry climate prevailed in Karnataka. This time, it was raining in Karnataka and the temperature was excessive in Kerala.

“The elephant enumeration was conducted adopting the block count and dung count method. In block count, the state forests were divided into 610 sample blocks with an average area of 5.78 sq km. In block count 1,920 elephants were counted and the population density was 0.20 per sq km. The total forest area with elephant population is 9,622.33 sq km of which 36.46% has been surveyed,” the minister stated.

As a part of the dung depend 2,386 elephants had been counted and the inhabitants density was 0.25 per sq km. During the 2017 enumeration, 3,322 wild elephants had been sighted in block depend whereas 5,706 elephants had been estimated in dung depend.

As many as 251 elephant herds had been situated through the block depend and 700 wild elephants had been a part of these herds. As a part of the tiger enumeration 297 digital camera traps had been put in within the Wayanad sanctuary, Aralam and Kottiyoor forests.

From the 297 photographs, 84 tigers had been collected from 160 areas. Of the 84 tigers, 69 had been within the Wayanad sanctuary whereas 8 had been within the North Wayanad division and seven had been within the South Wayanad division.

Of the 84 tigers 45 (54%) had been enumerated in 2016, 2018 and 2022 and 39 tigers (46%) had been sighted for the primary time. The evaluation recognized 29 male tigers and 47 females. The gender of the 8 tigers couldn’t be confirmed. The density of tigers in Wayanad panorama is 7.7 per 100 sq km, which is wholesome, stated Minister Saseendran. 

KOCHI: Amidst the growing man-animal battle which has led to widespread protests within the excessive ranges, a statewide enumeration performed by the forest division revealed that the wild elephant inhabitants has declined by 58.19% in Kerala over the previous 5 years.

As per the enumeration performed in 2017, Kerala had 5,706 wild elephants, however the inhabitants declined to 2,386 in 2023.

Meanwhile, an enumeration of the tiger inhabitants in Wayanad wildlife sanctuary revealed that the inhabitants has come right down to 84 from 120 in 2018. googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Revealing the figures at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram, forest minister A Ok Saseendran stated the rationale for the drastic decline in elephant inhabitants could possibly be migration to Karnataka forests.

The enumeration was performed throughout all south Indian states from May 17 to 19, 2023. The elephant census was performed throughout the identical interval in 2017.

According to authorities, local weather performs a big position in elephant migration. During the 2017 enumeration, elephants migrated to Kerala as dry climate prevailed in Karnataka. This time, it was raining in Karnataka and the temperature was excessive in Kerala.

“The elephant enumeration was conducted adopting the block count and dung count method. In block count, the state forests were divided into 610 sample blocks with an average area of 5.78 sq km. In block count 1,920 elephants were counted and the population density was 0.20 per sq km. The total forest area with elephant population is 9,622.33 sq km of which 36.46% has been surveyed,” the minister stated.

As a part of the dung depend 2,386 elephants had been counted and the inhabitants density was 0.25 per sq km. During the 2017 enumeration, 3,322 wild elephants had been sighted in block depend whereas 5,706 elephants had been estimated in dung depend.

As many as 251 elephant herds had been situated through the block depend and 700 wild elephants had been a part of these herds. As a part of the tiger enumeration 297 digital camera traps had been put in within the Wayanad sanctuary, Aralam and Kottiyoor forests.

From the 297 photographs, 84 tigers had been collected from 160 areas. Of the 84 tigers, 69 had been within the Wayanad sanctuary whereas 8 had been within the North Wayanad division and seven had been within the South Wayanad division.

Of the 84 tigers 45 (54%) had been enumerated in 2016, 2018 and 2022 and 39 tigers (46%) had been sighted for the primary time. The evaluation recognized 29 male tigers and 47 females. The gender of the 8 tigers couldn’t be confirmed. The density of tigers in Wayanad panorama is 7.7 per 100 sq km, which is wholesome, stated Minister Saseendran.