BENGALURU: Addressing man-animal conflict is a challenge, particularly when it involves a female with her litter. Until now, foresters used multiple traditional cages to capture a mother and cubs separately. Now, special mobile app secured electromagnetic brake cages have been developed by a department officer.
This type of automatic mobile app based cage locking system was used for the first time to capture a female sloth bear aged around 8, and her two sub-adult cubs aged around 10 months, in a township abutting Toranagallu Reserve Forest in Ballari on Thursday. The cage is large, with three sections, and the door to each section has electromagnetic switches for operation. These switches are connected to a common Wi-Fi and operated through the mobile application.
During Thursday’s operation, camera traps were installed around the cage to monitor the movement of the animals. As the animals started walking into the cages and were safe inside, the app was used to operate the electromagnetic switches and lock the cage doors, explained Ballari Deputy Conservator of Forests KN Basavaraj.
All camera trap images are monitored and stored on a common server of the department in the jurisdictional forest offices. “Normally cages are operated mechanically, with a trigger kept at a strategic location -- when the paw of the animal touches it, the cage door locks. In such cases, there are chances of the animal getting hurt or the mother being captured but not the cubs, or vice-versa. In this case, all the animals are safely captured. The entire operation is remotely monitored to ensure minimal error,” he said.
This is the first time it has been used in India and the department aims to utilise it in all animal capture operations in the state. The first prototype was made in 2024 to capture a tigress and her four cubs near Mysuru. But the tigress did not enter the cage.
The cage continues to be with the Mysuru forest division. In Ballari, makeshift metal cages were used, and the entire system was made at a cost of Rs 4 lakh, of which Rs 3.5 lakh was the cost of the cage and Rs 50,000 was used for electromagnetic brakes, locks and switches.
The cage was designed by Deputy Range Forest Officer Mohan Kumar, who is a mechanical engineer by education. He used all his field experience and notes made while participating in complex animal capture operations to design the cages. He said the size of the brakes and the cage can be customised.