The elephant population estimation exercise in Corbett tiger reserve, Rajaji tiger reserve, Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary and various forest divisions of the state began on the weekend.As part of the three-day exercise to be undertaken till June 8, on Sunday the forest department teams counted elephants in two shifts in Corbett, Terai west forest division, Ramnagar division, Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary, Terai east and Terai central forest divisions. The first shift was conducted from 6 AM to 11 AM while the second shift was held from 3 PM to 7 PM. Corbett deputy director Kalyani informed that traditional direct sighting system is being used for counting the pachyderms. Corbett is divided into Ramnagar and Kalagarh divisions. During the population estimation exercise in 2015, 850 elephants were counted in six ranges of Ramnagar division while 186 elephants were counted in the five ranges of Kalagarh.
The Terai east divisional forest officer Nitish Mani Tripathi said that counting of elephants continued on the second day on Sunday in the division and Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary.
It is pertinent to mention here that in addition to Corbett and Rajaji, elephants are being counted in 12 forest divisions of the western circle and Shivalik elephant corridor. About 2,500 employees of the department are involved in the population estimation of the pachyderms. The department is also using drones for the first time in this exercise. It will be recalled that there were 1559 elephants in Uttarakhand during 2012 which increased to 1797 in 2015.