Face2News/Chandigarh

The Department of Forests & Wildlife, Union Territory of Chandigarh in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun has conducted a Wildlife Survey from 20thto 27thNovember, 2025in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary (SWLS), UT Chandigarh and various other forest areas including Botanical Garden, Sukhna Choe reserve forest and lake forest etc

Prior to the survey, the Department organized 02 days workshop-on 18thNovember, 2025 for the field staff of the Forests & Wildlife Department, Chandigarh and on 19thNovember, 2025 for the registered volunteers and other stakeholders. The workshop observed active participation from representatives of various NGOs, educational institutions, Chandigarh Bird Club, media organizations and individual wildlife enthusiasts.

After completion of the wildlife survey, the Conference was organizedon 28th November, 2025 at 12:30 PM in the Conference Hall, 2nd Floor, Forests & Wildlife Department, UT Chandigarh.Sh. Saurabh Kumar, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forests & Chief Wildlife Warden, UT Chandigarh graced the closing ceremony as the Chief Guest. The conference was attended by senior officers of the Department, the scientific and technical team from WII, representatives of civil society and media personnel.

During the closing conference, the WII presented key findings of the 08days wildlife survey. The major highlights of the assessment of fauna are as follows:

Major vegetation recorded during the survey included:

• Justicia adhatoda (Vasica – Native Invasive), Carissa spinarum (Karonda), Lantana camara (Alien Invasive), Murrayakoenigii (Curry Patta)
• Major Grass Species:Arundo donax, Eulaliopsisbinata (Babbar), Saccharum spontaneum (Kans)
 Major Tree Species – 40
 Major Shrub Species – 10
 Major Grass Species – 3

Technical Used:

 Mammals: Signs survey, line transects and camera trapping methods
 Birds:Point count and audio moth method
 Herpetofauna:Visual encounter method accompanied by active search.
 Butterfly:Time bound method
 Vegetation: Nested quadrat plots

One of the camera traps also captured one leopard in Kansal Forest area, confirming the presence of large carnivore in the sanctuary. Now WII team has collected all the data generated from camera traps, direct encounters, point survey and other methods and is analyzing the same. The final report is expected to be submitted by WII by 31st January.

During the conference, the Chief Guest distributed certificates of participation to representatives of civil society, registered volunteers and media organizations.

The Chief Wildlife Warden expressed his gratitude for civil society volunteers and emphasized that this initiative is of people of Chandigarh for better scientific management of Sukhna Wildlife Sancutary. He also thanked WII for their expertise and knowledge sharing endeavours. He requested WII, Dehradun to submit a month-wise plan specifying the appropriate timeframes during which wildlife surveys can be carried out in the future.