Elephant census at Dudhwa: 11 tuskers sighted

The elephant census that took place last week in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has recorded the presence of 11 tuskers in the area.

The elephant census that took place last week in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has recorded the presence of 11 tuskers in the area. While the figure is much less than the 37 elephant sightings reported a week ago by the forest department,authorities claim the reduced number could be owing to the elephants moving to Nepal.

There have been 11 elephant sightings in two different herds in the Dudhwa range a pack of nine elephants in one herd and two in another, said Sanjay Pathak,deputy director,Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

Meanwhile,the elephant population present in the area is even less than that of the Amangarh forest area,which was declared as an elephant forest reserve last year.

The Amangarh forest stretch had recorded the presence of seven elephants as compared to 16 in the 2007 elephant census.

Local forest officials,however,claim that as the stretch is adjoining the Corbett

National Park,the elephants keep migrating there.

In summers,elephants usually move to the tourist zone in Corbett National Parks Jhirna area,as the water resources here start drying up. This is why there is a decrease in the number of elephants sighted here around this time, said C B S Malik,Sub-Divisional Officer,Bijnor Forest department. Apart from Amangarh,elephant census has also taken place in Shivalik and Nazibabad forest areas.

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