After five years, elephant census to be held in Odisha from May 22

After seven years, the Odisha government will carry out the state’s elephant census from May 22 to 24. The procedure for conducting the All Odisha Elephant Estimation 2024 has been initiated, according to official sources in the Forest and Environment department. The estimate will be conducted through direct counting in 43 divisions. Odisha recorded 1,976 total heads in the state’s most recent jumbo census, which was conducted back in 2017. This was a slight increase over the previous census tally of 1,954 in 2015.

For a number of reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic that followed typhoon Fani in May 2019, the department was unable to resume the exercise. But widespread poaching, which even occurred in Similipal Tiger Reserve’s protected sections, raised concerns about the elephants’ safety precautions, making a head count exercise necessary in order to create a more effective conservation strategy. In the past eight years, the state has lost about 700 elephants. The Assembly was told by the state minister of forests last year that 698 jumbos had died between 2015 and 2023. Road accidents, rail collisions, poisoning, electrocution, and poaching have long been the state’s leading causes of elephant deaths.

Along with barracks, watchtowers, and other departmental structures, a total of 1,136 machans will be built and utilized for the census by the census teams. All necessary training will be finished by May 15, but census units equipped with kits will begin counting on the field by May 21 and work for the next three days, until May 24. According to forest officials, the gathered data would thereafter undergo analysis at the range, division, and circle levels before being finalized at the headquarters.