NILGIRIS: Virtual solar fencing that enables alerts to forest department staff on wild animal presence near human habitations is one of the measures adopted to secure humans from wildlife attacks. In a first, the public were invited to see at first hand how it works.
Smart Virtual Fencing System is a solar-powered device that uses infrared sensors to detect the intrusion of any animal and send alerts to staff who will reach the area and divert.
On Thursday, officials of the Gudalur forest division took a group of people in and around Gudalur-Valparai stretch in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) to study the progress of its rollout.
Fifteen people, including various party functionaries from the Sri Madurai and the Devarsholai panchayats, along with five other staff of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department reached Valparai and monitored the progress of the project.
Naadukani Forest Range Officer R Ravi led the visitors.
The aforementioned panchayats are prone to threat from wild elephants from the nearby Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
Valparai and Manomboly forest range staff explained to the visitors that 1,300 solar fences — 700 in Valparai and 600 in Manomboly — have been set up at a cost of Rs 2.99 crore under the Tamil Nadu Innovation Initiatives (TANII).
Those set up near labour residential quarters have been successful in mitigating adverse human-elephant interactions last year.
"Since Valparai and Gudalur are similar terrain, surrounded by tea estates, we are studying how the project is being implemented successfully. If the people are satisfied and agree to replicate the same, we will send a proposal to the state government to implement the project," said N Venkatesh Prabhu, the DFO of Gudalur Forest Division.
The official also said wild elephants still enter human habitations, especially in Srimadurai and Devarsholai, attracted by jackfruit. Also another set of elephants are seen throughout the year.
"We have been using a thermal drone to detect elephants even at long distances. In the last three months, we have been implementing 54 early warning systems under which direct telegram messages along with elephant pictures and their location would be sent to people. They are working well in mitigating conflict. An early warning system costs Rs 42,000," Prabhu added.
The DFO also said they are installing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) cameras to reduce wildlife threats. Each camera costs Rs 8 lakh,
"We have decided to install 12 AI cameras which can detect elephants up to 2 km away. AI cameras can detect elephants even during misty conditions. Each AI camera has radar, an inbuilt microphone, along with visible ray and infrared signals. An AI camera can identify the animals accurately and send alerts to the range officer, staff and public. We have identified locations for installing the 12 AI cameras. They will be installed by the end of September," the official added.
