Tamil Nadu begins three-day synchronised elephant survey

Chennai, May 23 (IANS) Tamil Nadu forest department has begun undertaking a massive synchronised survey of elephants in coordination with other four states.

The census will be conducted for three days from Thursday.

The survey is being undertaken in five south Indian states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The elephant census for the year 2024 was to commence on May 17 but after Kerala expressed some difficulties and requested a one-week extension, the exercise was postponed.

In Tamil Nadu, the elephant census would be conducted in Coimbatore, Erode, Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Hosur, Vellore, Tiruvanamalai, Megamalai, Srivilliputhur, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari.

The state forest department officials told IANS that around 300 forest staff and volunteers are participating in the census.

According to a senior Tamil Nadu forest department official, a team of four to five members would be deputed to cover a region of around 15 km and they would walk through this region from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The team will assess the age and sex of the elephants directly.

The team would also find out whether the elephant has any external injuries, its tusk size, and the number of Makhna (tuskless male elephants) present.

The members will assess the elephant dung and differentiate between the elephants. The team will also study the elephant's behaviour and movements.

In the 2023 synchronized elephant census in Tamil Nadu forests, 2961 elephants were identified which was 200 more than the earlier census which recorded 2,761 elephants.

The 2023 elephant census was held from May 17 to May 19. The states would be releasing the list of elephants in each state together.