Haryana’s animal census, which was delayed last year owing to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, will begin in March, according to authorities from the state wildlife department.
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Haryana’s principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden, Jagdish Chander stated that they are teaching employees to begin the wildlife census from next month in Gurugram, Hisar, Rohtak, and Panchkula. The estimating process was supposed to begin in April of last year, but it was halted due to the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Around 100 video traps will be set up for the census in the forest areas of Gurugram, Kalesar, and Morni Hills, spanning 38 beats in the Aravalli woods and 59 beats in the Shivalik, according to wildlife department officials. Forests are divided into separate areas called beats.
The census will focus on the distribution of major mammalian carnivores and prey populations within protected areas, according to officials, in order to help the wildlife department devise better strategies for resolving man-animal conflict. The census will also aid in determining the distribution of nilgai and Rhesus macaques (monkeys) outside of protected areas in a human-dominated landscape.
Between May 1 and June 30, last year, the forest department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, planned to set up video traps for the survey of large mammals. However, the project was suspended after approximately 25 department personnel tested positive for Covid-19.
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The government performed a monkey survey in urban areas prior to the wildlife census last year and discovered 6,000 monkeys across the state.
