9-day wildlife census begins in Sukhna sanctuary, other forests

To prepare an inventory of animals and birds, a nine-day wildlife census started in the forest areas of the city from today. The survey is being conducted by the UT Department of Forests and Wildlife, in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary (SWLS), and various other forest areas, including Botanical Garden and Sukhna Choe reserve forest.

Saurabh Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, UT, said this year’s exercise expands the scope of monitoring by covering multiple taxonomic groups such as mammals, birds, reptiles and habitat parameters. The survey will also integrate the Asian Waterbird Count (AWC) at Sukhna Lake, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of the region’s biodiversity.

Further, the Department has adopted a more inclusive and collaborative approach enhancing public participation and wider stakeholder consultation. “Earlier, surveys were mostly concentrated on Sukhna wildlife sanctuary, but this time the scope has been expanded to the city areas covering various forest patches, which have wildlife such as lake forest, Patiala ki Rao and Sukhna Choe reserve forest,” he said.

The techniques used this time will be most modern in the field and camera traps will also be used along with transact lines, indirect method of estimation and so on.

“This year, the survey will be done at night also to include nocturnal animals and birds also,” he added.

In this regard, the Department organised a capacity building workshop for the department, stakeholder departments, NGOs and volunteers for the wildlife census with scientific and technical support from the WII, Dehradun.