Annual census of herbivores in Gir begins

The exercise would cover survey of ungulates like spotted deer,sambar,blue bulls or roj,four-horned antelope,Indian Gazelle (chinkara),wild boars and langurs. Peacocks too would be counted during the exercise.

“We undertake this exercise every year to monitor the population of these animals. Since peacock is our national bird and a very important species,we have included it in the census year after year,” Deputy Conservator of Forest (wildlife,Sasan) and currently in-charge of Gir West forest division told The Indian Express.

The census teams conduct surveys of their route three times in a day — morning,afternoon and evening.

Greater Gir,spread across Junagadh,Amreli and Bhavnagar districts,is the only habitat of sub-species of Asiatic lions. The forests have been under the spotlight since April 15 when the Supreme Court ordered trans-location of lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Even as the population of the wild cats has gone up in the last decade,thanks to conservation efforts,the apex court had ruled in favour of trans-location citing danger to the sub-species from disease and natural calamities.

Lions prey on ungulates and a healthy population of the latter in Gir forests is cited to be one of the reasons why the big cats have survived there. According to data available with the office of DCF,Gir West,around 54,000 ungulates were recorded in Gir during the 2011 census.