Elephant census in North-East begins

Kaziranga (Assam), Feb 21 (PTI) The exercise ofelephant census have started in North East and Assam todetermine the number of the pachyderms in the wild.

Stating that the census work began from yesterdayKaziranga National Park''s Kohora range officer Attaqur Rehmansaid the exercise will end on February 26.

The last elephant census was held in 2008 and in thepark alone, which is world heritage site and better known forhousing the highly endangered one-horned rhinos, there were asmany as 1293 elephants.

Rehman said the census figure will significantly morethis time because of breeding in large scale among theelephants.

"In Kaziranga alone a lot of elephant calves have beensighted," he said.

The park has been divided in 81 compartments forelephants and the forest staff on enumeration work will bedistributed among them, he said.

The Kohora range has provided the maximum number of 23elephants for the census work which will be carriedsimultaneously in other ranges of the park as Burapahar,Bagori, Agratoli and Northern Range, he said.

The tiger census inside the park was carried out lastmonth and the figures are yet to be finalised, Rahman said.