Baripada: In good news for ornithophiles, there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds in forest divisions under Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary. This is according to the latest bird census report published by the Similipal National Park (SNP).
As per the report, a total of 26,242 winged guests were counted during the census. The census was conducted in 32 ranges under five forest divisions of the wildlife sanctuary. Counting of birds was done in the north and south divisions of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), various water reservoirs coming under Baripada, Karanjia, and Rairangpur divisions, and more than 100 other places including wetlands.
During the census 13,342 migratory birds were found in seven ranges under Baripada Forest division.
Similarly, 247 migratory birds were recorded at eight ranges under North Forest division, 407 in nine ranges of South Forest division, 7,273 were found in four ranges of Rairangpur Forest division and 4,973 were found in four ranges of Karanjia, the report said. “This year, the number of migratory birds to the wildlife sanctuary has increased in comparison to last year, said field director STR and Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF), Baripada circle, Prakash Chand Gogineni.