BHUBANESWAR: The Wildlife Wing of Odisha Government has decided to adopt the dung decay rate method, an indirect sighting technique, for elephant enumeration in three major habitats of the State from November.
Adopted successfully in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, the dung decay method will be carried out in Similipal, Satkosia and Badrama which are located in three elephant reserves (ERs) of the State. It would be supplementary to the existing direct sighting method which the Wildlife Wing uses like other States.
Two non-Government agencies have been identified to partner in the enumeration which will be taken up as a research project under Centre's Project Elephant. The dung decay method will start from November and continue well into next year, Chief Wildlife Warden Sidhanta Das said. The regular elephant census starts around April.
Under the dung decay method, 15 fresh dung pile of elephant groups are tracked over 20-day intervals and eight sets of piles are identified and monitored. The dung pile is kept under watch till it vanishes as part of bio-decomposition.
Such a method is used in habitats where elephant population is seen in large herds as even direct sighting technique that uses a line transect method fails to reach a near accurate number of the group. Under the indirect method, the group of elephants and their dung pile is tracked, monitored and geo-tagged too. Using the data generated from the defecation and its decay, a mathematical formulae is used to arrive at the number. The technique was used successfully in Africa.
The dung decay rate method is being increasingly used since the direct sighting is said to produce underestimation. "Similarly, a two per cent reproduction rate every year among elephants is normal. Beyond it, the numbers could be on the higher side. The dung decay method gives only an estimation but is considered more accurate,'' an expert said.
However, to understand the male-female ratio, adult, juvenile and calf count, the direct method is used which provides a more comprehensive picture. Use of the two methods will only bring more clarity, Das added.
Last year, the elephant census had put the total figure of the pachyderms at 1,954, registering a rise over 2012 figures of 1,930. In Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi and Sambalpur ERs, their population was 1,450.