Gudalur’s AI-powered command centre gets 76 alerts on elephant movement in two months

The AI-powered command-and-control-centre at Gudalur has possibly helped avert several potential negative human-elephant interactions in the forest division since its use over the last two months.

Divisional Forest Officer (Gudalur) Vengatesh Prabhu told The Hindu that the system had received a total of 76 alerts in November and December of 2025. “Though the system was officially inaugurated only in mid-December, it had been operating on a pilot basis since November itself,” said Mr. Prabhu.

The centre, which has been primarily tasked with minimising negative human-elephant interactions that have become a major problem in the division due to encroachment of elephant pathways and habitat fragmentation, received 32 alerts in November and 44 in December, officials said.

The command-and-control-centre utilises two types of cameras fitted with artificial intelligence capabilities – 34 infrared cameras and 12 thermal imaging cameras to generate alerts of elephant movement close to human habitations.

Mr. Prabhu said that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) established for the system means that in case elephant movements are noticed by the Forest department, immediate alerts are sounded to the public living nearby. “We have also established an exhaustive wireless system involving all Forest department personnel in the divsion,” said Mr. Prabhu.

He said that once the alert is generated about elephant movement, it is sounded to the nearest patrolling Forest department team to deal with the incident. “Even if the nearest team is located in a different range, the alerts will be first passed onto them to ensure quick action,” added the DFO.

The teams will then be tasked with driving the elephant or elephants towards a safe area away from human settlements. “Only once the elephants are driven away will the alert be closed. It is almost like generating a ticket, where the alert is only closed once the immediate threat from animals is eliminated by driving them towards a safe area, away from people,” he said.

The Forest department has also appealed to people to alert them about animal movements on its toll free number – 1800-425-4353.