Buoyed by the efficacy of AI-integrated cameras in wildlife protection, Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), Odisha’s lone tiger habitat, is targeting to bring half of its landscape under surveillance systems. Monitoring of the critical habitat with the help of AI-integrated cameras in the tiger reserve began in October 2024. From an initial 50-odd cameras, the number has now increased to over 220.
“STR has about 1,375 monitoring grids, and our plan is to install AI-enabled cameras in at least 50 per cent of these grids. Our effort is to transform Similipal into the finest tiger reserve in India in terms of monitoring and surveillance,” STR Field Director Prakash Chand Gogineni said. STR is now in the process of procuring another 450 AI cameras to deploy them at strategic locations to improve protection measures. The decision to go for a larger deployment of AI cameras was taken considering their effectiveness in monitoring and surveillance, even in the remotest corners of the dense Similipal forests.
As of now, the AI-integrated cameras have helped the STR management detect over 110 incidents of intrusion in the tiger reserve, which is spread over a massive 2,750 sq km. The tiger habitat’s boundary is known to be extremely porous, with fringe areas buzzing with human settlements.
The STR management has arrested nearly 300 poachers and wildlife criminals and seized 166 firearms with the help of the AI cameras. The surveillance also led to the surrender of about 100 firearms over a year and a half.
Recently, swift, real-time alerts received from the AI trail guard cameras helped in the immediate mobilisation of forest personnel, leading to a 24-hour combing operation that ended in the surrender of at least 39 poachers, Gogineni said. Capable of capturing high-resolution photos of trespassers even at night, these advanced cameras have been installed at strategic locations in both the south and north divisions of the STR. The cameras can identify human and animal movement within their range and click pictures stealthily, sending immediate alerts to the STR’s control room.
Integration of this intelligent surveillance method with on-ground patrolling is expected to significantly strengthen anti-poaching measures in the tiger reserve and help STR authorities set up Similipal as a new benchmark for modern, technology-driven wildlife protection and big cat conservation, forest officials said.
Similipal, notified as a tiger habitat in 1973 when Project Tiger was launched, is home to over 30 tigers. It is also the only home to rare melanistic tigers in the world.