Bhubaneswar: After the successful operation of thermal drone to track the movement of elephants in Keonjhar district, the wildlife wing of the forest department on Wednesday said the practice will be replicated in other divisions which have a large presence of the animals.
Bonai, a mining-rich area in Sundargarh district, was the second wildlife division to implement the technique as it records elephant movement round-the-year like Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Angul, Athgarh, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

Lalit Kumar Patra, divisional forest officer (Bonai), said elephant tracker squads and drone operators work in tandem. “The elephant trackers in the field get inputs about likely movement of elephant in areas close to human habitation. Then we engage the drone to pinpoint the location where the elephants are moving. The thermal drone gives us the real-time images even if it is one animal as infrared radiation detects heat-sensitive objects. We then start the intervention to alert the local people and drive away the animal,” Patra told TOI.
Patra said in several instances, illegal transportation of manganese has been caught through the deployment of thermal cameras in certain areas under Bonai division. “Let alone illegal transportation, trespassing has also been detected. In forest areas, however, such a drone can’t be used randomly but only on getting related inputs. Otherwise such a vast landscape can’t be put under routine surveillance,” he added.
Susanta Nanda, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), said thermal drone cameras come in use more significantly to track poaching incidents. “An experimental use in Similipal Tiger Reserve yielded the real-time image of a poacher caught in action. The scope of its use can be expanded in the future,” said Nanda.

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