ELEPHANT CENSUS REPORT BY NEXT WEEK

The Wild Life Department is to release the report on the Elephant Survey by end of next week. The Digital and Computer Science Department of the Peradeniya University has commenced sorting the data on the elephant survey. The Survey was carried out from the 11th to 13th of this month covering all wild life zones in the country. All data has been computerized now, and the data include the number of elephants in each herd, their sizes, assumed ages, their sex and other physical features. If records of a herd were duplicated the programme automatically nullify the duplication. The data is being sorted under the supervision of the Director General of Wild Life H.D Rathnayaka and the Dean of the Science Faculty of the Peradeniya University, Prof. Parakrama Karunarathna. 40 university students are also assisting in this process. In order to minimize numerical mistakes scientific methods are being given priority. The Wildlife Department informs that this survey will help to find out solutions for human elephant conflicts and proper conservation and management of elephants, the Government Information Department reports.

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