Elephant census stats in 3 Months

BANGALORE: Barring an attack on a forest watcher by a wild tusker, the three-day elephant census, jointly taken up by four states simultaneously, ended smoothly on Thursday. The details of the elephant population in Karnataka are expected to be out in two to three months.Four southern states which have a considerable elephant population -- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa -- carried out the census in their respective forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Chief Wildlife Warden of Project Elephant Ajay Mishra told Express that the census was carried out on the lines of models suggested by the department. A large number of volunteers from various places joined hands with the forest staff in the exercise.In Nagarhole, a tusker attacked a census team, injuring a forest watcher. He is undergoing treatment in a hospital. Mishra said the process of compiling data collected by over 100 census teams was underway. They had constituted 50 census units for Bandipur and 47 units for Nagarhole National Park, and the teams carried out the census work in their respective beats. The collected details will be submitted to the Indian Institute of Sciences for analysis. “The information on the number of elephants in the state will be available in two to three months,” he added.