Bhubaneswar, May 13: Forest officials and wildlife experts expressed concern over the declining number of elephants in the Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary.

The jumbo census in the sanctuary concluded yesterday. Though the forest officials refused to divulge the number of elephants spotted in the drive, departmental sources said it would be in single digit.

The sanctuary, sprawling over an area of 193sqkm of small but sprawling hillocks of Khurda and Cuttack districts, was designated as an elephant reserve in 1982.

At that time, it was home to more than 120 elephants. In this forest ecosystem, elephant is the flagship species as forest's sustenance and development are hinged with the jumbos. Wildlife experts are, therefore, worried over the elephant's dwindling population in this sanctuary as the fauna as well as habitants of the forest will have a serious setback because of it.

According to official statistics, the sanctuary had registered the presence of 83 elephants in 1999 - which kept on decreasing with the last census in 2015 revealing presence of only eight elephants there.

In the last census, three males, three females and two young jumbos had been spotted in the sanctuary. There are apprehensions of further reduction in their number in the current census.

The census, which involved 135 forest officials in 35 units, started on Tuesday. The officials were deployed at 40 places to spot the jumbos through direct and indirect methods. Besides, forest officials were also deployed at 10 watchtowers.

In direct methods, the forest officials count the wildlife itself. On the other hand, they measure traces or secondary evidence of wildlife in the indirect methods. In this process, the officials use theories to derive an estimate of the population trends based on the observations.

Sources said the officials could not spot a single elephant in the sanctuary in the first two days of the census. However after that, they could spot a few elephants at Bharatpur and Haladia.

Experts attributed rapid urbanisation around the sanctuary behind the dwindling number of elephants over the years. Besides, the forest has also witnessed human activities leading to depletion of habitat and food for the elephants.

"Though poaching was never a concern at the sanctuary, encroachment on forestland for human habitation is a major concern. The elephants are migrating to the bordering Athagarh forest," said a forest official.

Chandaka divisional forest officer Kedar Kumar Swain said the data collected from various units was being analysed.

"The data will be complied and the final report will be made on Monday," he said.