Madikeri: A new early warning system to reduce human-wildlife conflicts is being tested across wildlife-prone areas of Virajpet, Kodagu, with the support of SNEHA, an NGO, and funding from Sucden Coffee Pvt Ltd.
The system features siren alerts that warn residents within a 1-kilometre radius about wildlife—especially elephant—movement. Twelve sirens have been installed in conflict-prone zones such as Badaga Banangala, and more may follow based on trial outcomes.
“We are running similar initiatives in Odisha and Kodagu, and plan to evolve this into an automated warning network,” said Ramaswamy Krishnan, Executive Director of SNEHA.
As part of the initiative, SNEHA has developed the SNEHA Kalpvaig Elephant Tracker mobile app. Users can log the last known elephant sightings, and an AI-based system tracks movement to activate the sirens and send voice alerts through the app.
To enhance effectiveness, camera traps have also been installed in key conflict zones. These cameras capture images every minute. SNEHA staff review the images in real time and manually trigger sirens if elephants are spotted nearby.
The long-term vision includes making the system fully automated, where cameras equipped with AI-based detection can independently identify wildlife presence and trigger alerts instantly.
The project, run in collaboration with the Forest Department, is seen as a model for proactive community safety, and offers a promising approach to managing increasing human-wildlife interaction in the region.
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