Fear loomed over the quarters of tea workers near Valparai, around 100 km from Coimbatore, on June 4 after a 60-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant.
The estate workers feared that the lone elephant might return to the residential areas.
Though the anti-poaching watchers of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) are known for their innate skills in tracking wild elephants, Forest Department officials chose to deploy a drone to monitor the lone tusker which moved towards a tough terrain.
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“The elephant was monitored by the drone for a few days and until we ensured that it retracted to the forest. We are continuing vigil in the area to avoid further human-elephant interactions,” says E. Prasanth, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Pollachi Division of ATR.
The drone was also used for surveillance when the Department received complaints of leopard movements.
“The drone can be flown upto 1.5 hours using an additional battery. It has a 10 km range and can withstand wind up to 50kmph. The ‘return to home’ feature enables the drone to return to the operator before the battery gets completely drained,” he adds.
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Drones were purchased for ATR, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris and Gudalur Forest Divisions as the Department wanted to stop the practice of hiring them along with handlers for major operations.
“One forest guard each from all the seven forest ranges of Coimbatore Division and three from Tiruppur Division were given training by Skywalk Drobotics Academy in Coimbatore initially. A total of 10 staff from Gudalur, the Nilgiris and Pollachi Forest Division of ATR were trained later,” says M. Senthil Kumar, ACF, Coimbatore Division.
Drones were introduced to explore how the modern technology could be used to improve efficiency in conservation, says I. Anwardeen, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Coimbatore Circle) and Field Director (in-charge) of ATR.
“We have trained 20 forest staff who are now experts in handling drones. The aerial monitoring is used for regular perambulation, anti-poaching drives, surveillance of large mammals like elephants and also to check illegal activities like tree felling. Drones can reach where the staff may not be able to reach due to the difficult terrain,” he says.
The cost of training the staff and purchasing drones was found through ecotourism activities. “This is a good model of in situ conservation financing where proceeds from sustainable ecotourism projects finance conservation activities of the divisions,” adds Mr. Anwardeen.