NILGIRIS: Gudalur forest department plans to introduce thermal drone for surveillance as part of its efforts to track wild elephants, especially at night, before they enter human habitation and drive them back inside the forest.
Since elephants come out of the forest at night and move into tea estate or human settlement across the six forest range of the division, which is spread over 14,932.496 hectares of land, the new system will help forest staff to track the animals from a distance and alert people early.
“Two drone operators will be stationed near the forest fringes. Once elephant movement is detected, the announcement will be made from a forest department-owned vehicle using Bluetooth to alert the public to be careful. A speaker will be fixed in the vehicle to give announcements live to the public, and emit loud noises to scare away the animals,” a forest department officer explained.
According to sources, three companies have displayed operations of drones, and officials will soon finaluse one. A sum of `10.5 lakh has been spent for the purpose.
An officer said the system is currently implemented in Hosur forest division and is yielding good result. The system will cover all the six ranges in the Gudalur division.
The officer further said they will soon purchase AI-enabled cameras to monitor elephants. The these initiatives will be helpful to reduce negative interaction between animals and humans.