AI cameras find over 500 elephant intrusions along railway tracks in Madukkarai range
The AI cameras with a coverage of 150 metres on either side of the railway track can detect the movement of elephants as well as wild animals
COIMBATORE: A first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI) enabled elephant monitoring system has successfully detected over 500 instances of elephants crossing the railway track that connects Tamil Nadu with Kerala in Coimbatore’s Madukkarai forest range.
As part of the AI monitoring system, 12 camera towers have been installed on strategic spots along a 7.05 km stretch of railway track. ‘A’ line track traverses through 2.9 km of the forest while ‘B’ line track passes through 4.15 km.
The AI cameras with a coverage of 150 metres on either side of the railway track can detect the movement of elephants as well as wild animals like gaur, sambar deer, spotted deer, and leopards in the Madukkarai forest area.
“On some days, the railway track watchers of the forest department had to drive along the tracks as many as ten times during the peak migratory season of the elephants. They had spotted the same elephant crossing ‘A’ and ‘B’ railway tracks repeatedly,” said R Arun Kumar, Madukkarai forest range officer.
The AI technology-based solution was introduced last year after a total of 11 elephants were knocked down by speeding trains since 2008. The pachyderms got killed when attempting to cross over the tracks to enter villages in search of food and water.
“Every year, the movement of elephants used to escalate after June, when the migratory season kicks in. They usually prefer to raid plantains and coconut trees in farms abutting the forest area. But farmers are not willing to switch over to other crops as plantain and coconuts fetch better revenue,” explained G Ranjith Kumar, Karamadai Forest Ranger.
Factbox:
* AI-based system prevents elephant intrusions in Kemmarampalayam panchayat
* Sounds of buzzing bees, ambulance sirens, gun-shots and voices of tribals scare away elephants.
* The AI camera captures the image of wild animals within a radius of 500 metres.
* Over 25 lakh images of elephants and wildlife were fed into the AI system.
* Plans are afoot to expand the project to a stretch of ten kms along the forest boundary.
* Kemmarampalayam panchayat has a population of over 10,000 people.