Plagued by continuing deaths of wild elephants, the Forest Department recently started aerial surveillance of the pachyderms using drones, in some forest ranges of the Coimbatore forest division.
The department had sought the expertise of a Coimbatore-based UAV geospatial service company to monitor the elephants using drones.
Aerial monitoring using drones was introduced after 17 elephants died of various reasons in the division, this year.
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D. Venkatesh, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore forest division, said that visuals from drones were helpful to check whether an individual elephant or a herd was active in the forest.
Weak or immobile elephants can also be identified through the visuals. The aerial surveillance is free from risks involved in patrolling through the forest.
The department on Tuesday released a video of surveillance, using a drone from Sirumugai forest range, where eight elephants died of various reasons this year.
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The video shot as part of the programme named 'Drones for elephant protection and health monitoring' showed the movement of an elephant herd at Pethikuttai forest area, of Sirumugai range.
Apart from Sirumugai forest range, drones were used to monitor elephants in Mettupalayam forest range too, where four elephants died this year.
Though the department had procured two drones priced at ₹5 lakh and ₹7 lakh in August 2018, they remain unused due to their weight and poor battery backup.
Elephant calf found dead
Meanwhile, an elephant calf was found dead at Sembukarai near Anaikatti on Tuesday, taking the death toll in the Coimbatore Forest Division to 18. The carcass of the calf was at least three-days-old. Veterinarians who inspected the carcass said the calf could have died of complications at the time of birth. Wild boars had eaten parts of the carcass, forest officials said.