Coimbatore forest officials turn to AI, thermal cameras to tackle rising elephant raids in neighbourhood

Chennai, Oct 29 (IANS) Wild elephants in the Coimbatore forest division have increasingly been straying into human settlements, leaving a trail of destruction across farmlands and claiming lives.

Over the past ten months, elephants have ventured out of reserve forests nearly 5,000 times, raiding standing crops on 690 occasions and killing ten people — a stark reminder of the deepening human-elephant conflict in the region. Spread over 320 square kilometres, the Coimbatore forest division is home to more than 300 elephants.

Forest officials admit that predicting their movement into human habitations is nearly impossible due to the vast and fragmented terrain. With crop losses mounting and villagers living in fear, the forest department is now betting big on early warning technologies to monitor elephant movements and alert people in real time.

A senior wildlife conservator said that while AI-powered and thermal imaging cameras can significantly reduce conflict by tracking elephant movements and issuing timely alerts, high costs remain a major obstacle.

“Installing intelligent surveillance systems that detect elephants and send alerts to both farmers and field staff can prevent many such incidents. But we are struggling to expand the technology due to budget constraints,” he explained.

In previous years, forest officials used SMS alerts and loudspeaker announcements to warn residents in areas vulnerable to elephant intrusions. However, a forest ranger said the system often backfired.

“Whenever alerts were issued, people from nearby areas would gather out of excitement to watch the elephants. It created crowds and made it harder for staff to manage the situation,” he said.

District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj said the department has already installed thermal and optical cameras in Madukkarai, Maruthamalai, and Thadagam for 24x7 surveillance.

“A dedicated team monitors these cameras, and alerts are sent immediately to field officers when elephants stray out of the forests. Covering the entire 320 sq km area is not feasible, so we’re identifying high-conflict hotspots for targeted deployment,” he said. D. Venkatesh, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, said elephant movements have increased sharply across all seven ranges of the Coimbatore division over the past five years.

“We are working with the division to roll out modern, tech-based solutions for early detection and prevention. A full-fledged early warning system should be operational within the next couple of months,” he said.

--IANS

aal/mr