AI Cameras deployed in 17 locations in Hosur Forest division to track
elephant movement
The Hindu
July 29, 2024
See link
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/ai-cameras-deployed-in-17-locations-in-hosur-forest-division-to-track-elephant-movement/article68460710.ece
for photo.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras have been deployed in 17 locations to
monitor the movement of elephants in the Cauvery North and South Wildlife
Sanctuary areas of Hosur Forest division.
A Command and Control Centre was inaugurated here at the office of the
Wildlife Warden in Hosur on Monday.
The AI cameras would be the latest addition to the slew of measures taken
to minimise negative interactions between elephants and humans.
The AI cameras feature a fixed lens with a 360 degree rotation.
The cameras are supported by special software with images of domestic and
wild elephants captured from the Theppakadu elephant camp. This enables the
AI camera to pick up images of an elephant and track its movement as soon
as it leaves the forest. The images of the elephant are immediately relayed
to the Command and Control Center that are equipped with large-sized
monitors and computers, and the information is passed from there to the
field staff..
The cameras are protected by a fence with 24-hour solar-powered batteries.
A large tower has been set up at the district forest office from where all
the cameras are networked, according to the Forest Department.
In October each year, around 125 to 150 elephants migrate from Bannerghatta
National Park and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka into Tamilnadu.
The elephants enter the State through Thally, and Jawalagiri reserve
forests, and move through Denkanikottai, Noganur, Udedurgam, Sanamavu,
Settipalli, and Maharajakadai reserve forests, and enter Koundinya Wildlife
Sanctuary and Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh. They
return to Bannerghatta National Park in April and May.
This migratory journey is also fraught with transgressions and negative
interactions with humans, resulting in human casualties and crop loss.
According to the forest department, various measures including the relay of
information through WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels on elephant
movement; and infrastructural measures including solar fences and
much-lasting steel wire rope fences are being set up along with creation of
water holes inside reserve forests.
To help contain the elephants within the forests of the Cauvery North
Wildlife Sanctuary, the Forest Department is in the process of setting up
steel wire rope fences along a 150-km distance north of the sanctuary. Of
this targeted area, a 35 km distance has already been covered by the fence
in specific spots where elephants are seen to breach forest boundaries.
The AI cameras have been deployed in vulnerable locations where steel wire
rope fencing is yet to be erected. The AI-Cameras have been deployed under
the Tamil Nadu Innovative Initiative that started in 2023-24.
Similarly, the Hosur Forest division has also acquired a thermal drone to
monitor elephant movement out of the reserve forests at night.
This would be in addition to the existing system of information channels
such as as “Thadam” Whatsapp group and “Kurinji Nilam”
Earlier, the Command and Control Centre was set up inaugurated by the
Deputy Superintendents of Police A. Babu Prasanth of Hosur and Shanthi of
Denkanikottai in the presence of the Wild Life Warden K. Karthikeyani.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/ai-cameras-deployed-in-17-locations-in-hosur-forest-division-to-track-elephant-movement/article68460710.ece
AI Cameras deployed in 17 locations in Hosur Forest division to track
elephant movement
The Hindu
July 29, 2024
See link
<https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/ai-cameras-deployed-in-17-locations-in-hosur-forest-division-to-track-elephant-movement/article68460710.ece>
for photo.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras have been deployed in 17 locations to
monitor the movement of elephants in the Cauvery North and South Wildlife
Sanctuary areas of Hosur Forest division.
A Command and Control Centre was inaugurated here at the office of the
Wildlife Warden in Hosur on Monday.
The AI cameras would be the latest addition to the slew of measures taken
to minimise negative interactions between elephants and humans.
The AI cameras feature a fixed lens with a 360 degree rotation.
The cameras are supported by special software with images of domestic and
wild elephants captured from the Theppakadu elephant camp. This enables the
AI camera to pick up images of an elephant and track its movement as soon
as it leaves the forest. The images of the elephant are immediately relayed
to the Command and Control Center that are equipped with large-sized
monitors and computers, and the information is passed from there to the
field staff..
The cameras are protected by a fence with 24-hour solar-powered batteries.
A large tower has been set up at the district forest office from where all
the cameras are networked, according to the Forest Department.
In October each year, around 125 to 150 elephants migrate from Bannerghatta
National Park and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka into Tamilnadu.
The elephants enter the State through Thally, and Jawalagiri reserve
forests, and move through Denkanikottai, Noganur, Udedurgam, Sanamavu,
Settipalli, and Maharajakadai reserve forests, and enter Koundinya Wildlife
Sanctuary and Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh. They
return to Bannerghatta National Park in April and May.
This migratory journey is also fraught with transgressions and negative
interactions with humans, resulting in human casualties and crop loss.
According to the forest department, various measures including the relay of
information through WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels on elephant
movement; and infrastructural measures including solar fences and
much-lasting steel wire rope fences are being set up along with creation of
water holes inside reserve forests.
To help contain the elephants within the forests of the Cauvery North
Wildlife Sanctuary, the Forest Department is in the process of setting up
steel wire rope fences along a 150-km distance north of the sanctuary. Of
this targeted area, a 35 km distance has already been covered by the fence
in specific spots where elephants are seen to breach forest boundaries.
The AI cameras have been deployed in vulnerable locations where steel wire
rope fencing is yet to be erected. The AI-Cameras have been deployed under
the Tamil Nadu Innovative Initiative that started in 2023-24.
Similarly, the Hosur Forest division has also acquired a thermal drone to
monitor elephant movement out of the reserve forests at night.
This would be in addition to the existing system of information channels
such as as “Thadam” Whatsapp group and “Kurinji Nilam”
Earlier, the Command and Control Centre was set up inaugurated by the
Deputy Superintendents of Police A. Babu Prasanth of Hosur and Shanthi of
Denkanikottai in the presence of the Wild Life Warden K. Karthikeyani.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/ai-cameras-deployed-in-17-locations-in-hosur-forest-division-to-track-elephant-movement/article68460710.ece