12 Jan BIHAR’S LARGEST SANCTUARY TO CONDUCT WILDLIFE CENSUS TO MAKE IT TIGER-FRIENDLY

The Government of Bihar has decided to conduct an animal census at Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary to make it tiger-friendly. The census will start on January 15 and will be completed in four to five months.

This wildlife census will be the first step towards developing the sanctuary into a tiger-bearing landscape. It will determine the number of wild animals living in the sanctuary and if it has enough prey for tigers.

The Wildlife Institute of India has already trained around 90 officials of the state environment department for conducting the census. They have been provided training on species identification, the use of field equipment, and monitoring of tigers and associated ecosystems.

Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary has an area of 1,504.96 square kilometers and populations of leopards, sloth bears, spotted deer, sambar, wild pig, nilgai, and four-horned antelope can be found here. Around 70 species of resident birds are also present here. According to the forest department records, tigers were found in the sanctuary around three decades ago. But, are not found now due to the lack of adequate protection. Human activities also led to the fragmentation of the sanctuary and the local extinction of tigers.

However, these felines sometimes visit Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary from the adjoining forests in other states. And the state government wants the sanctuary to become a suitable habitat for tigers again.

Blog Credits
HIMANI GUPTA