AHMEDABAD: The much-awaited two-day Poonam avalokan for Asiatic lionsbegan on Friday. The beat guards and the staff involved in the avalokan (sightings) had begun preparation from Wednesday for the lion counting exercise.
A senior forest officer said that for accurate count of each pride they had collected data of the kills over the last two days, and asked village sarpanches and their sources to keep track of lions near their villages. The monthly lion count has been made public for the first time by the forest department.
“Usually, the count was given after talking to the villagers, sarpanches and their sources, but this time the department has made it compulsory to take photographs and record the exact locations of prides and kills with latitude and longitudes, and hence it is an extensive exercise,” said a beat guard.
Principal chief conservator of forest, Shyamal Tikadar, said, “The photographs will be uploaded on the government server and duplication will be removed. Once the data is ready, it will be placed before the government and the ACS forest and environment, Rajiv Gupta, who will then take a call. Once approved, the photographs will then be uploaded on the forest department website.”
Forest officials said that the lion census will cover 30,000 sq km but the highest lion footfall has been recorded in 1,200 villages in Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir Somnath. Lions have been spotted once in every three to four days in these villages.
A beat guard from Jasadhar division said, “I have made a note of a killing on Thursday and have asked the village sarpanch to keep a watch. A lion pride is bound to return to the spot of the kill on the next day. Usually the villagers remove the kill from the area and move it away from the village. But on Friday the villagers and sarpanch were requested not to disturb the kill and leave it at the same spot.” He said that in his beat he had spotted six villages where there were lion kills. “This will make the task easy for me, as I would be able to take photographs of these six prides without much effort,” he said.
Another beat guard said he even requested a sarpanch to let weak cattle and those past their prime roam in areas near the village where the big cats might make a kill. He said besides taking help of the local villagers, each beat guard has also prepared a map of his territory marking spots of kills made in the last fortnight.
Meanwhile, beat guards who are mainly from lion territory have also requested their close contacts and relatives to keep an eye on sightings of the big cats.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/beat-guards-study-data-of-lion-kills-for-avalokan/articleshow/76225009.cms
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