Gandhinagar, Feb 15 (IANS): The Gujarat government here on Saturday claimed the state had emerged as leader in conservation of migratory birds as there had been significant rise in the number of birds at two of the state wetlands.

Citing recent bird census data, the Gujarat Forest Department said there had been a significant increase in the number of birds at the Nal Sarovar and the Thol Bird Sanctuary.

The department conducts bird census every 2 years at the two wetlands. This time bird census was also conducted in the Kutch region.

According to the census carried out on February 8-9, more than 3.15 lakh birds of 131 species where found at the Nal Sarovar Lake and over 57,000 birds of 87 species at the Thol Bird Sanctuary.

During the 2018 census over 1.43 lakh birds of 122 species were recorded at the Nalsarovar and 40,000 plus birds of 92 species at the Thol Bird Sanctuary.

The first census in the Kutch region spotted over 4.8 lakh birds in the Greater Rann of Kutch and more than 4 lakh in the Little Rann of Kutch. Over 5.5 lakhs flamingoes, including more than 300,000 hatchling, were counted in both the Greater and Little Rann of Kutch.

The state government has also started bird banding with the help of the Bombay Natural History Society, set up by the renowned bird expert Salim Ali.

The government is using the latest technology and with the help of Wildlife Institute of India has tagged 6 flamingoes with electronic gadgets to monitor their flight activities.