AI Cameras: AI Cameras Catch 17 Poachers in Similipal Tiger Reserve |
Bhubaneswar: Use of AI-based cameras to keep watch on Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) has led to the arrest of 17 poachers recently and the seizure of seven country-made guns, bows, arrows and snares, officials said.
In March last year, the wildlife wing installed 10 AI-based cameras on an experimental basis in the reserve to keep tabs on poachers. Now 50 such cameras are keeping an eye on movement of poachers.Authorities are planning to increase the number of cameras to 300 so that trespassing in the core and buffer areas can be monitored.
“In the absence of AI cameras, we were not able to know what was happening inside the forest, be it human movement for killing animals or felling trees. This system is not readily available in the market. We deployed prototypes in March last year as an experiment. Thereafter based on results, modifications were brought in and more cameras were installed,” said Similipal field director Prakash Gogineni.
AI surveillance helped the field staff to identify the poachers later if they managed to flee. “We have infra-red (IR) and thermal cameras as well. In IR cameras, if poachers are captured during the day, the pictures are more clear. Later, we are able catch them. The thermal cameras detect both human and animals,” Gogineni added.
“We have also seized iron rods, bicycle ball bearings, catapult, clutch wire, big knife, gunpowder, animal traps, live cartridges, antlers of deer and sambar, plastic net, axe and hand-made billhook,” he said.
In summer, AI cameras were used to monitor forest fires. Smart cameras for detecting fires are used in South America and Africa as well. Special AI cameras for fire surveillance were introduced in Similipal to get real-time data as it takes about four hours for forest personnel to react to fire points through feed obtained from satellites.
Officials said special relief commissioner Satyabrata Sahu had proposed introduction of camera-based surveillance in Similipal. STR has 27 Royal Bengal Tigers, according to the latest state census.
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