Tiger census ends in Telangana

Hyderabad: The first tiger census of Telangana came to an end on Monday with a week-long effort of volunteers and forest officials. The volunteers included doctors, software engineers and retired employees of the Forest Department who were given participation certificates from the department and the experience of all the volunteers was recorded down for further surveys.

The forest officials are happy with the number of direct sightings. Wild animals were found in Amrabad, Kawal and other areas and the presence of tigers was noted. “There were four direct sightings of tigers –three in Amrabad and one at Kawal. So many sloth bears and a panther featured in our list of direct sightings. So it was a good response,” Officer on Special Duty, Wildlife, A Shankaran said.

Senior officials from the Wildlife Department said that their expectations of having over 20 tigers will be true as many pug marks have been recorded. “Direct sightings are rare but we are hopeful of getting a good number. It will take at least a week to compile the data,” Shankaran said. Officials said that the survey helped in noticing human disturbance in the forests.