- Kerala’s Wayanad is installing the country’s first AI-based smart fence, ‘Ele-fence’, to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
- The pilot project, implemented by White Elephant Technologies with the support of the Kerala Forest Department, is located in the Chethalth forest range of the south Wayanad forest division.
- The 70-metre Ele-fence combines surveillance, real-time monitoring, control, and preventive features.
- The design includes a detailed study of elephant behaviour in conflict situations.
- The fence comprises six-inch-wide steel girders, each 17 feet high, concreted at four feet depth, and welded with steel bars for strength.
- AI-based logical trip wires enable early warning of elephant movements. 4K cameras provide real-time video and audio to the Forest Department‘s control rooms and Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).
- Sound and alarm lights deter elephants from approaching and alert pedestrians and motorists.
- The Ele-fence employs lasher belt technology to prevent elephants from breaching it.
- Cameras capture live visuals when elephants approach within 50 to 60 meters, triggering alarms to warn locals. The real-time video alerts the nearest RRT and the central forest control room.
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