<p>Ahmedabad: The Forest Department on Saturday kicked off the 16th Asiatic Lion census which will be conducted in two phases between May 10 and May 13 covering 11 districts of Saurashtra.</p><p>Officials said that primary population estimation will be conducted from May 10 to May 11 while final estimation exercise will be undertaken in the next two days. </p><p>The estimation will be carried out across 58 talukas of 11 districts where lions exist. These districts are Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Amreli, Porbandar and Botad.</p>.Asiatic lion estimation census from 10th to 13th May in two phases.<p>Along with the census, forest officials said, about three thousand trained volunteers including regional, zonal and sub-zonal officers are part of the census. The areas are being mapped using the 'Direct Bit Verification' method. This method gives 100 per cent accuracy as it simplifies the process of data analysis and the margin of error remains negligible, forest officials said.</p><p>The volunteers have been given prescribed sheets and maps of their assigned areas to record and verify the lions. These sheets will record details like time of observation, direction of movement, sex, age, any other identifying marks on the body, GPS location, group composition, among others.</p><p>The lion census is conducted every five years. The first one was undertaken in 1936. This is going to be the 16th such census. In the last census, a total of 674 lions were recorded. It is estimated that the population may cross 800 this time. </p>
<p>Ahmedabad: The Forest Department on Saturday kicked off the 16th Asiatic Lion census which will be conducted in two phases between May 10 and May 13 covering 11 districts of Saurashtra.</p><p>Officials said that primary population estimation will be conducted from May 10 to May 11 while final estimation exercise will be undertaken in the next two days. </p><p>The estimation will be carried out across 58 talukas of 11 districts where lions exist. These districts are Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Amreli, Porbandar and Botad.</p>.Asiatic lion estimation census from 10th to 13th May in two phases.<p>Along with the census, forest officials said, about three thousand trained volunteers including regional, zonal and sub-zonal officers are part of the census. The areas are being mapped using the 'Direct Bit Verification' method. This method gives 100 per cent accuracy as it simplifies the process of data analysis and the margin of error remains negligible, forest officials said.</p><p>The volunteers have been given prescribed sheets and maps of their assigned areas to record and verify the lions. These sheets will record details like time of observation, direction of movement, sex, age, any other identifying marks on the body, GPS location, group composition, among others.</p><p>The lion census is conducted every five years. The first one was undertaken in 1936. This is going to be the 16th such census. In the last census, a total of 674 lions were recorded. It is estimated that the population may cross 800 this time. </p>