Forest department to start counting Indian giant squirrels in state

PUNE: It is the official state animal, but no one knows how many Indian giant squirrels there are in Maharashtra. The anomaly will soon be rectified with the state forest department carrying out the first state-wide census of the Indian giant squirrel soon.

"This will be the first time that a census will be conducted all over the state. So far a giant squirrel census has been conducted only at the Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary," said chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Sunil Limaye.

Limaye said a workshop will be conducted on June 19 and 20 in Mumbai to train the forest staff from across the state before the details of the exercise are chalked out.

A survey in the Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary had estimated the number of giant squirrels, locally called shekaru, between 1,306 and 1,742. It had identified as many as 10,451 active nests inside the sanctuary.

"So far the census has been conducted inside the protected area at Bhimashankar. These censuses were also done by direct sighting methods and not using the line-transect method. We want to train the staff before we proceed with the census," said Kirti Jamdade- Kokate, assistant conservator of forests

She said the buffer areas outside the protected areas will also be a part of the exercise. "The habitat of the giant squirrels extends to areas outside the protected area. We want to involve the joint forest management committees and raise awareness among the local communities about the need to protect tall trees with dense canopies which are ideal for the squirrels to build their nests," she said.

This will be the first time that a census will be conducted all over the state. A giant squirrel census has been conducted only at the Bhimashankar sanctuary