Forest department ropes in thermal drone to monitor jumbo movement
Amid the rise in man-animal conflict in some forested pockets of Odisha’s mineral-rich Keonjhar district, the Forest Department has deployed thermal drone cameras to keep track of the animals in two more forest ranges.
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Keonjhar: Amid the rise in man-animal conflict in some forested pockets of Odisha’s mineral-rich Keonjhar district, the Forest Department has deployed thermal drone cameras to keep track of the animals in two more forest ranges.
Sources said safety of elephants has been a major concern for the department and the wild life activists as deaths of animals are being frequently reported from various parts of the district.
"Keonjhar has been witnessing an increase in man-animal conflict, leading to house and crop damage and human casualties. The district has also reported elephant deaths. Monitoring the movement of the pachyderms has always been a challenge for us because of the numerous infrastructure hazards such as railway, electricity, and open wells, as well as pesticide use," Keonjhar DFO Dhanraj Hanumant Dhamdhere told the media.
He stated that efforts were made to upgrade the monitoring system because early warning and voice message systems, biking, daily foot patrolling, and daytime hazard analysis were not capable of providing real-time data. "For the past five days, we've been using thermal drones. The drone detects live objects based on their body temperature, which is displayed on the computer screen. "It gives us a proper count of a herd as well as the number of calves," he explained.
According to the DFO, the drones are also being used to drive the herd away from a potentially dangerous area. "The drones are not only assisting us in knowing the composition of the herd and driving them in a desirable direction, but they are also preventing casualties among forest staff," he added.
The mineral-rich district contains seven ranges that are vulnerable to elephant attacks.
