Elephant census to be undertaken in South Indian states

Chennai: The three-day annual synchronised elephant census in four south Indian states will now commence from May 23, it was announced on Wednesday.

The elephant census for 2024 was to commence on May 17 for three days but was put off after Kerala expressed some difficulties and requested a week’s extension.

Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh forest departments will participate in the synchronised elephant census from May 23.

In Tamil Nadu, the elephant study will be conducted in Coimbatore, Erode, Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Hosur, Vellore, Tiruvanamalai, Megamalai, Srivilliputhur, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari.

Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials told IANS that the number of forest staff and volunteers for the exercise would be decided in the coming days.

According to a senior official, a team of four to five members would be deputed to cover a region of around 15 km and they would walk through it from 6 am to 6 pm and assess the age and sex of the elephants directly.

The team would also find out whether any elephant has any external injuries, their tusk size, and the number of “Makhna” (tuskless male elephants) present.

They will also assess the elephant dung to differentiate between the elephants. The team will also study the elephant’s behaviour and movements of these elephants.

In the 2023 census in Tamil Nadu forests, 2,961 elephants were identified, or 200 more than the earlier exercise which recorded 2,761 elephants. The 2023 elephant census was held from May 17 to May 19.

The four states would be releasing the list of elephants in each state together.

Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials told IANS that the state’s Conservator of Forests, D. Venkatesh, who is also the Director of the Madumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), will be the nodal officer for the census for the Tamil Nadu region.

Meanwhile, with an aim of avoiding train-elephant collisions, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that the national transporter has developed an indigenous software named ‘Gajraj’, using optical fibre cable (OFC), to issue warning to the loco pilot about any suspicious movement on or near the rail tracks.

The Minister also said that the AI-based software device has been tested successfully in Assam and will be installed in the 700 km elephant corridors spread in several states within a time period of eight months.

He also said that the entire cost of installation of Gajraj software with its device for the 700 km corridor is estimated at Rs 181 crore.

Explaining how the Gajraj technology system works, the Minister said: “In its AI-based software using OFC, alerts are issued in case any suspicious traffic is detected from the distance of 200 metres from the railway tracks.

It can also specifically tell the distance where the movement has been detected. Any mammal which walks on land has a specific movement signature. The AI-based software has been trained to even detect the number of animals at a site. The loco pilot, those in the control room and the section station master receive alerts raised upon detection of any movement.

According to the Railway Ministry data shared in Parliament in July last year, 45 elephants have died in train accidents in the last three years. On Monday, three elephants, including a calf were killed at Rajabhat Khawa in Alipurduar district of West Bengal following a collision with a goods train. The three elephants, a mother and her two babies, died on the spot.