On the last day of elephant census two sub adult elephants frolicking in a water hole, a bachelor group, and a herd thriving in the meadows of a translocated village in Karnataka.

The incident took place at The Nagarahole Tiger Reserve in Mysore on May 25.

Visuals showed two sub adult elephants playing in the water, while in another clip, a group of elephants was drinking from a lake and roaming around nearby.

In response to the increasing human-elephant conflict in the border areas of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, an inter-state coordination committee has initiated a Synchronized Elephant Population Estimation Exercise from May 23 to 25. This effort aims at preventing human-elephant conflicts and developing management strategies. According to Nagarahole Tiger Reserve field director Harshakumar Chikkanaragund, the census consists of three phases.

On May 23, block sampling was held. Sampling blocks of five sq km was created. Teams of three personnel will patrol at least 15-km on foot, recording data on elephants observed directly, including group size, sex (males, females, makhna elephants), age categories (adult, juvenile, calf), and other relevant information. The second day on May 24, Line Transect activity washeld. A 2-km transect will start at 6 am. During this walk, elephants’ dung and footprints will be recorded on both sides. On the last day on May 25, the water hole count was held. The staff will monitor selected lakes from 6am to 6pm, recording and photographing elephants that visit these water sources.

 “The Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, which spans Mysore and Kodagu districts and is the state’s most elephant-rich area, has already conducted 15 days of camera trapping to collect data. Over 300 personnel from 91 patrols in the reserve will participate in the census, with at least one trained staff member in each patrol. This effort will help determine the sex ratio of elephants and identify high-density areas, which are crucial for preventing human-elephant conflicts and developing effective management strategies,” he said.

The exercise will be conducted in 10 forest divisions of Karnataka, located on the interstate boundary with Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The divisions in which the exercise will be conducted are Kolar, Cauvery Wildlife, MM Hills Wildlife, BRT Tiger Reserve, Bannerghatta National Park, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Madikeri Territorial, Madikeri Wildlife and Virajpet. This includes 65 forest ranges and 563 beats.