Balasore, May 26: The wildlife department today started the elephant census in the Kuldhia sanctuary.

In the three-day exercise, 135 staff members have been engaged in the counting of the jumbos. Besides the local sanctuary employees, officials of Nilgiri and Chandipur forest ranges have also been deployed.

To make the jumbo census more effective, 45 temporary manchas (watch sheds), 34 in the Kuldhia sanctuary and 12 in Oupada, have been erected on treetops.

In each watch shed, three forest employees would be positioned, and they will keep watch from 3pm onwards till 7am the next day. They would also be focusing on the water bodies, salt licks and other patches that are frequently visited by the elephants.

The census is being undertaken after three years, and the exercise would be extensive by differentiating the adults and the calves.

In the 2009 census, there were 80 elephants, while in the 2012 census the number was 93. The department officials are hopeful that the number will go up considerably during the present census.

A lone makhna (a male elephant having no tusk and wide head and trunk) was found during the last census.

Kuldhia range officer Rabindra Kumar Mohapatra said: "The census is made on the basis of direct sighting, and in exceptional cases, their pug marks would be measured. The census is being carried out in the Kuldhia as well as in the Oupada forest range, which is being used as corridor by the jumbos."

In another development, residents of Thakurmunda block in Baripada are spending sleepless nights as a herd of elephants has been wreaking havoc in the area for the past four days.

The residents, along with forest department personnel, are guarding the area throughout the night by lighting fire in their villages.

The herd has 13 elephants, including three tuskers and three calves. They have sneaked into villages under Kendujuani gram panchayat from Keonjhar district. These elephants had also strayed into Sarubila and Khuntakata villages in the Kendumundi forest range.