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Students from assorted colleges and precocious schools of Odisha volition enactment successful the upcoming All India Tiger Estimation 2025-26 astatine Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary successful November, an serviceman said connected Thursday. For the archetypal time, 46 students from Dunguri College, Kamgaon College and Lakhanpur High School volition instrumentality portion successful the national-level census, said Anshu Pragyan Das, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Hirakud Wildlife Division.
The grooming sessions for the students began connected Tuesday and volition proceed till the archetypal week of November, said Ms. Das. They are being trained successful sampling protocols, information postulation methods, recognition of herbivores and carnivores, and signs specified arsenic pugmarks, footprints, rake marks, scent marks and vocalisations, Das said.
"By engaging youth, we are creating a procreation of aboriginal leaders, ambassadors of Debrigarh and decision-makers who shall beryllium motivated to proceed conservation efforts successful the sanctuary," she said, adding that specified initiatives besides bring originative energy, enthusiasm and assemblage information successful conservation.
A full of 26 census units person been formed successful Debrigarh sanctuary for the upcoming survey, the DFO said. She added that 80 frontline wood officials volition besides instrumentality portion successful the census, which is scheduled to statesman successful the 2nd week of November.
Besides, 107 camera traps person been deployed for the exercise. The census volition see motion surveys and camera trapping, followed by technological information investigation to measure the presumption of carnivores, prey density and situation conditions.
The erstwhile All India Tiger Census was carried retired successful 2022, portion successful 2023, Debrigarh authorities conducted an estimation of prey density and leopard colonisation during the pre-monsoon period. Using the pugmark method, the survey past indicated a tentative leopard colonisation of 82 successful the sanctuary. A summertime census of gaur (Indian bison) carried retired successful May this twelvemonth recorded 788 animals, including 315 juveniles, successful the wood area.
