Nagpur: The most awaited Waterhole Animal Census in Maharashtra took place on Thursday night on the occasion of Buddha Purnima when the visibility inside forest was the best. All Tiger Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the State conduct this exercise every year on Buddha Purnima.
This year, Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Nagpur; Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Chandrapur, Umred Paoni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary (UPKWS), Umred; Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati; and Bor Tiger Reserve (BTR), Wardha conducted the event on Thursday night.
During the census, a total 2,698 wild animals were spotted. Of these, 2,380 animals were spotted in the core and 318 in the buffer. In Pench, 18 tigers were sighted, 9 in core and 9 in buffer. In the core area, tiger sightings were mostly in Deolapar and East Pench ranges while in buffer the sightings were in Nagalwadi range. Also, six leopards were sighted in PTR, 4 in core and 2 in buffer.
In UPK, a total 657 animals were sighted, including 9 tigers. Five tigers were sighted in Karhandla while four were sighted in Kuhi. Two leopards also were sighted in the sanctuary. Other animals also sighted during the exercises were sambhar, spotted deer, wild boar, blue bull, hare, grey langur, Indian Gaur, mongoose etc. Importantly, a honey badger was spotted in Chorbauli core area.
Total 20 sloth bears were spotted, including 12 in the Paoni UC buffer of Pench. Two palm civets were spotted, one each in East Pench core and Paoni UC buffer. Total 36 jackals were sighted, mostly in east Pench and Chorbauli ranges. Also, 28 barking deer were sighted, half of those (14) were sighted in Chorbauli ranges.
In five ranges of PTR core, the exercise was done by field staff and in 2 ranges of buffer and UPK by nature lovers. This year,machans were allotted on ‘first come, first serve’ basis. In the year 2023, more than 150 nature lovers had applied for the programme while this year more than 250 forms were received. Total 71 machans were made available for the participants. Of these, 37 were in the buffer ranges of Pench that is Paoni (Unified Control) and Nagalwadi Range and 34 were in 3 ranges of UPK that is Karhandala, Kuhi and Paoni Wildlife.
The participants were required to spend the time from 3 pm on May 22 to 8 am on May 23, and record the number of wild animals that visited the water holes for drinking water. PTR management provided vehicles for the participants up to their respective Machan through departmental vehicles. Food was served at Machan by the department. Besides, the participants were given T-shirts and caps.
Similarly, in TATR, 79 machans were erected by the management. Total 150 nature lovers participated in the activity. Here, the participants had to pay for the vehicle to reach up to the machans. They had to carry their food whereas stationery was provided by the management.
A large number of wild animals were also sighted in TATR. The exact number of animals sighted is yet to be declared by the TATR management. Most of the tourists gave positive feedback about the exercise and requested the department to continue the same and increase the number of machans. The waterhole census helps the management of tiger reserves to check the variety of species present in the protected area and also help to spread awareness about wildlife conservation.
