Animal Census – excellent response

There has been a heartening response to this year’s call for volunteers to trk the forests and do the count this year. People have come from far and wide to participate.

The Forest dept. has done their best  and in spite of a few bobbles things have gone well. I will be posting on the collated results and we will soon know whether our conservation efforts are bearing fruit or not.

In an exciting finish, the elephant count has been extended by a day and for the Topslip Range a bird count has been thrown in for good measure. The new dates are Feb 20 – 21 for any who missed the announcements.

Ponnvandu is taking 15 volunteers  for this last phase! A number of kids from SKCAS are coming along with official permission! And that is a very big deal.

And Now, the Elephant -CHANGE IN DATES!!

The final stage of the census this year will be the elephant count on (CHANGE!!) TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20th AND 21st. This will be the last activity in this zone of forest as they shut out all visitors for the next two months during the summer fire season. A BIRD CENSUS WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED AT TOPSLIP (ULLANDY RANGE).

An interesting contrast between the African and Asian cousins can be seen in these two pics: Can you make out which is which?

Those interested in participating please mail me with your contact details IMMEDIATELY!

Below is a map that depicts the contracting range of the Asian Elephant.

Along the borders of the black zones (is all that’s now left) there are frequent clashes (man-animal conflicts) as the elephants try to walk through human settlements and plantations.

Elephants love to walk and can cover 40 to 50 km in a day especially when they are searching for water or better vegetation.

Our count takes place in the South West corner of India, in the heart of theNilgiris biosphere.

Sorry for those whose travel plans have been spoiled by the last minute change in dates. This sometimes happens when working with the Forest Department and we just have to grin and bear it!