An alert system against elephant intrusion into human habitats developed by Kerala Agricultural University offers hope as increased man-elephant conflicts on forest fringes are taking a toll on human lives.
The system, which uses artificial intelligence, was developed by K. Gopakumar, Head of the Department of Forest Resource Management, KAU’s College of Forestry, just before the COVID-19 outbreak in collaboration with scientists of Government Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara, and the Integrated Rural Technology Centre, Mundur.
“The alert system uses sensors and high-resolution cameras that will capture the images of animals straying into habitations. It sends wireless messages to the control room and from there to people and agencies such as the police and the Forest department within five km. As it uses wireless systems, forest areas with poor mobile network too can be reached through it,” says Dr. Gopakumar.
