The Indian government is undertaking a four-day exercise to enumerate the number of birds visiting the Biligi Ranganatha Swamy Temple and the Tiger Reserve. The exercise is scheduled to conclude on January 29th. Volunteers will commence the exercise at 8:30am daily and will wind up around 4:00pm. The Tiger Reserve is a biodiversityrich habitat in Chamarajanagar, spread across 574 square kilometers bridging the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. The Forest Department is undertaking the bird census after 11 years. When the exercise was last conducted, 282 species of birds were spotted at the Tiger Reserve. The Department had initially decided to conduct the exercise in winter, since it would have helped the authorities obtain accurate data on the number of birds breeding at the reserve, but the census had to be postponed. The Tiger Reserve Director, Deep J Contractor, said that the Department had made all necessary preparations for conducting the census, having enlisted 70 volunteers for the census. "The volunteers will be asked to identify new species of birds and record all relevant information about the specimens. Birds will be identified based on their vocal signature, their nests, et al. The census will help bolster efforts to save birds, staring at extinction," she said. Activist Dh
