Assam Forest Department To Start Leopard Census

Guwahati: In a bid to reduce the chances of man-leopard conflicts, the Assam Government will conduct a leopard counting census for the first time in the state.

An exclusive leopard counting census in Assam's forest and non-forest areas has been initiated by North Kamrup Forest Division in leopard density areas of Amingaon in Kamrup district that will kick off from January 31.

According to reports, camera-trapping will be used for the census with 50 cameras being installed in Sila Reserve Forest, Changsari, NIPER, AIIMS, etc.

The camera trapping will be done for a period of 24 weeks and data from each camera will be extracted at an interval of every seven days.

Taking to micro-blogging site twitter, Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya tweeted, ''The 24-week camera trapping census will be the first of its kind in Assam! Sustainable development remains our commitment with priority to wildlife conservation too!"

In this regard, a one-week execution program has been planned by North Kamrup Forest Division during which verifying of camera traps, the study of maps, in-depth discussion with senior forest officials, volunteer participation plan, field survey, and target location selection will be held.

The camera trapping will start from February 7 after the layout of the detailed plan.