Chandigarh will have a wildlife census from May 1 to June 30 this year to determine the animals and birds  in the Union Territory.

Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden Debendra Dalai on Saturday said that Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun has been asked to carry out a wildlife census in Chandigarh along with Haryana which would carry out wildlife census from May 1 to June.

Talking to ‘The Pioneer’ over the phone, Dalai said that to prepare an inventory of wild animals, the UT Forest and Wildlife Department has planned to carry out a second wildlife census in Chandigarh. The first wildlife census was held in 2010. “We earlier had a verbal communication with the director of WII, Dehradun, to carry out the wildlife census in Chandigarh along with Haryana. Now, we will soon write a letter to WII, Dehradun, regarding the same. If our proposal is accepted then the wildlife census in Chandigarh would also start along with Haryana from May 1,” he said.

Dalai further said that the availability of funds is no longer an issue. The department would not need a large fund to carry out wildlife census in Chandigarh. The wildlife census would be carried out in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 26 square kilometres in the catchment area of the Sukhna Lake.

It would take nearly a week to complete the wildlife census exercise in Chandigarh. The master trainers of WII Dehradun will give adequate training to all the staff in Chandigarh and those who would be part of the wildlife census exercise.

The Chandigarh Chief Wildlife Warden said that the first wildlife census was carried out in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary a decade ago. The second census could not be carried out in the last year due to the pandemic and Covid-induced lockdown in the country, he added.

Another senior officer of UT Forest and Wildlife Department said that a team of experts from the WII, Dehradun, environmentalists, representatives of NGOs and biology and zoology students from Panjab University took part in the first census held in 2010.

The team took three days to count nine species of mammals and 65 species of birds by using direct evidence, including animals and birds spotted in the area, and indirect evidence such as footprints and animal faeces.

He further said that by using direct evidence, including the animals and birds spotted in the area, and indirect evidence like foot-prints and animal faeces, nine species of mammals and 65 species of birds were accounted for. As per the first census report prepared by the WII, Dehradun, the population of sambar in the sanctuary was between 1,000 and 1,200 and peafowl population was between 900 and 1,100. However, leopards were not spotted directly, but their footmarks were found. Main animals spotted in the sanctuary include sambar, chital, pangolin (anteater), wild boar, jackal, small Indian civet, jungle cat, porcupine, Hanuman langur, rhesus monkey, Indian hare, common mongoose and three-striped palm squirrel, he added.