Bhubaneswar/Bargarh: Authorities in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bargarh district have decided to rope in school and college students in the upcoming All India Tiger Estimation (AITE)-2025-26.
With the objective and theme of ‘conserve today for a wilder tomorrow’, the forest department has decided to engage students for the first time in such an exercise to instill proclivity to conservation of wildlife among them.
Collaborating with the colleges and high schools adjoining Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary will be instrumental for growing understanding among institutions and organisations involving youth voices in wildlife conservation, said Divisional Forest Officer Anshu Pragyan Das.
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As many as 46 groups of students of Dunguri College, Kamgaon College, and Lakhanpur High School will be participating in the upcoming census at Debrigarh during November.
“By engaging youth, we are trying to create a generation of future leaders and decision-makers who will be motivated to continue conservation efforts in the sanctuary,” Das said.
Engagement in such exercise will bring creative energy, enthusiasm, and passion and can inspire community efforts for conservation in this landscape.
More than 50 such educational institutions adjoining Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary have been taken on exposure trips ahead of the tiger estimation programme.
Training of students with respect to sampling protocols, data collection, different types of herbivores and carnivores to be surveyed during the census has already started from October 28 and will continue until the first week of November.
Their knowledge building will include understanding of signs, pugmarks, footprints, scraps, vocalization, and other marks like scent/rake marks, she said.
The scientific analysis of data collected from the census estimation will assess the status of carnivores, prey species (herbivores and mega herbivores) and their abundance, human impacts on habitat, and habitat status, she said.
