The survey party observed four additional species of horned antelope including 2,348 spotted deer, 1,068 blackbucks, 304 sambar deer, 77 barking deer and four-horned antelopes, 843 wild boars, 43 sloth bears and 15 striped hyenas. Herds of the famous feral buffaloes can also be spotted in places near the Moyar river. The 2010 wildlife survey counted 12 Bengal tigers. In December 2011, the Conservator of Forests of Tamil Nadu stated that the sanctuary is home to at least 28 tigers as confirmed by a camera trap study conducted by World Wildlife Fund. In the 2012 national wildlife survey, 25 tigers were recorded. As per the 2011 census, the Sathyamangalam forests was home to over 850 Indian elephants and is part of a protected area, which consists of the largest Asian elephant population in the world. Many bird species including treepies, bulbuls, babblers, mynahs and crows were noted. In 2010, the first ever bird survey was conducted in the Sathyamangalam forests. A total of 230 species of birds were recorded in the survey. In 2010, a small population of critically endangered Indian vulture ("Gyps indicus") and three other species of vultures were discovered to be thriving in the Moyar river valley. 20 nests were sighted and the population was estimated to consist up of 40 adults. Last sighted in the region in the 1970s, the rediscovery of the vulture, a bird rapidly disappearing from India, has been significant. Diclofenac, which caused the decline of vulture population was banned in 2006 and since then, vulture numbers have started to grow back. Conservation of the Sathyamangalam Forest Division is administered by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department governed through Conservator of Forests, Erode, Divisional Forest Officer, Gobichettipalayam and District Forest Officer, Sathyamangalam. The wildlife sanctuary is part of Project Tiger and Project Elephant conservation programmes run by the Government of India. The sanctuary is listed among the top five places in India for poaching tigers by the international wild life trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC. In February 2016, the National Tiger Conservation Authority announced that drones will be used to monitor tiger population in five tiger reserves including Sathyamangalam. The reserve also faces issues due to forest fires, uncontrolled grazing of cattle and growth of invasive plant species, damaging the ecosystem. Man-animal conflicts are common especially with elephants and leopards.