CHENNAI: The principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden, in an official release, said that the synchronised vulture census has been scheduled on February 27 and 28 with the cooperation of the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The census has been planned in seven protected areas where vulture populations are known to exist.
Ahead of the census, preparatory meetings were conducted with the field officers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, sharing details of location, logistics and methodologies to be adopted for the exercise. It has been decided in the coordination meeting that the census will be held in 106 points in the three states.
In Tamil Nadu, the census will be conducted on 33 points and a maximum of 220 individuals will be engaged in the census operation, including forest department field staff, vulture experts, NGOs, students and volunteers. It has also been decided that methodologies of vantage point count and nest-count methods will be adopted for the census, for which necessary training and orientation for the volunteers were conducted, the release added.