TECHNOLOGY is coming very handy for the Forest Department in mitigation of man-animal conflict in the affected areas of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). The Human-Animal Conflict Mitigation System (HACMS) installed to avoid conflict in the Greater Tadoba landscape is helping the department to detect movement of wild animals venturing close to human settlements. Acting on the plight of the villagers in the region, the TATR management had decided to address the issue of human-wildlife conflict in a different way. A couple of years ago, the management came up with the idea of HACMS which can provide help of technology to address the issue. Initially the management adopted it as a pilot project and installed a couple of such systems in TATR in two villages. Within two years, the management and the villagers started getting good results.

 

“In last two years, we have installed 40 such HACMS in seven villages of the buffer in TATR, with approximately 5-6 units in each village. The system is giving alerts to us if it captures the images or co-ordinates of specific wild animals venturing near the villages. Until September 2024, the HACMS has sent out 1,354 alerts, of which 622, 285, and 447 pertained to tigers, leopards, and sloth bears, respectively” said Piyusha Jagtap, Deputy Director (Buffer), TATR while talking to ‘The Hitavada’. The TATR management formed Primary Response Teams (PRT) in all seven villages. These teams after getting alert from the HACMS make sure that the animals don’t stray near the villages. With this joint effort, the management has been successful in getting early warning to avoid man-animal conflict near the villages. Early-warning systems have been used in India to avoid human casualties caused by elephants moving through plantations or tea gardens. Traditional early-warning systems involve an observer spotting wildlife movement through a remote camera and sending out an SMS alert to nearby villagers or plantation workers.

 

However, at TATR, management felt that they could go one step further and integrate the power of artificial intelligence (AI) into their early-warning system. In the meantime, the HACMS came into existence with the help of a tech company. The HACMS set-up involves a camera that tracks animal movement and takes pictures. The camera has internet connectivity and as soon as an animal is detected and photographed, images are transferred to the cloud, where an AI-based algorithm identifies the species spotted. This algorithm works on machine-learning principles for which a significant database of images of different wild species has been fed into the system. This allows the HACMS to identify the species spotted, and AI is used to ascertain if the animal spotted poses a potential threat to human well-being. The HACMS is capable of identifying tigers, leopards, and sloth bears as potential sources of conflict. “We have plans to procure additional HACMS in TATR to cover more villages in the buffer. We will send proposals for more such units after the Assembly election in Maharashtra is over,” said Jagtap. With inputs from the local community and the forest department field staff, locations have been identified on forest land for setting up more HACMS units based on the movement of wild animals. “We also have plans to install centralised wildlife control room which will act as a central hub to receive inputs on any human casualties and conflicts caused by wild animals. With the help of this centralised system we can develop a standardised operating protocol (SOP) to respond to conflict incidents and initiate quick action,” claimed the Deputy Director. “We are hopeful that soon the centralised system will come into existence and we are working on it, said the senior forest officer.