In a first, butterfly census to be held in Karnataka in December

For the first time in the state, an official inventory, or assessment, of butterflies will be conducted at the Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district. 
At least 300 people participated at the Butterfly and Bee Festival held at Doresanipalya Forest Research Station in the city on Saturday | Express
At least 300 people participated at the Butterfly and Bee Festival held at Doresanipalya Forest Research Station in the city on Saturday | Express

BENGALURU: For the first time in the state, an official inventory, or assessment, of butterflies will be conducted at the Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district. 

The protected area is already popular and well protected for hornbills, which are listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Now, the butterfly inventory will be another feather in the cap of the reserve.

The assessment will be done by the Forest Department and members of the Bangalore Butterfly Club (BBC) on December 14 and 15, Sanjai Mohan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) told The New Sunday Express.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Butterfly and Bee Festival held at Doresanipalya Forest Research Station in the city on Saturday. 

Over 300 people, including 66 children, participated in the festival. The participants explored the 40-acre campus and learnt about the diverse flora and flora there. 
The participants were also told about the importance of butterflies and bees, their life cycle and the host plants for breeding. 

Mohan said such a census was never been done in Karnataka. “It is high time this is done, and so it was decided to do it in December, the butterfly season rather than keeping it for the next year like March. From the next year, it will conducted in more places,” he said. 

The inventory will help in the setting up of the upcoming butterfly park in Joida. It will also help in converting the Doresanipalya Forest Research Station into a butterfly park. 
Mohan said of the 300 species of butterflies in Karnataka, 130 occur in the institute alone. “So the department is also working on gradually adding more butterfly-friendly plant species and gradually reducing eucalyptus and other trees. More butterfly host plants will also be introduced at the station,” he added. 

The census data will also act as a base for follow ups in the subsequent years. At first, only the species will be documented and in the next level, they will verified and then counted. 

While this is the first time a group census is being done, individual ones have been done at BRT and Kabini. Similar census has been done in Kerala and Tamil Nadu too.  

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