Using technology to save India's endangered wildlife
Safeguarding India's Wildlife in the Digital Age
As India watched the Ambani family's star-studded festivities at their private zoo Vantara in Jamnagar, conservationists couldn't help but dream of what such resources could mean for India's endangered fauna. With over 1000 species at risk per the IUCN, the subcontinent remains a fragile biodiversity hotspot.
Imagine if the cutting-edge enclosures and round-the-clock monitoring enjoyed by Vantara's exotic inhabitants could extend to the 50 Project Tiger reserves striving to protect India's 3000 wild tigers. Emerging technologies like AI, IoT, drones and blockchain offer precisely this transformative potential to secure threatened species' survival.
The Stakes: Vanishing Habitats, Escalating Threats
India is home to 7-8% of all recorded species, including 96000 animal species, while comprising just 2.4% of the world's land area. This natural heritage faces decimation from illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss, human-animal conflict and climate change. Over 106 species have already gone extinct.
Poaching alone threatens 57 species including elephants, rhinos, pangolin and monitor lizards. Valued at $20BN globally, this illicit trade exploits gaps in patrolling and porous borders. Annual festival season sees this peaking - goddess Durga is believed to dwell in lotuses, driving demand for blackbuck and deer skins to carve lotus motifs.
Urban leopards on the outskirts of Mumbai. Source: National Geographic
Simultaneously, development diverts nearly 11,000 hectares of forest monthly. Power lines, railways, highways, farms and other infrastructure fragment migration corridors for elephants, gaurs etc driving fatal conflicts. As their homes vanish, stressed fauna venture into farms and human settlements with calamitous outcomes for both sides.
The Promise of Tech: Real-Time Monitoring to Predictive Protection
Against such a backdrop, technology-aided conservation shifts the paradigm from reactive damage control to proactive threat prevention. Real-time data gathering through sensors, camera traps, and acoustic recorders identifies animals, maps behaviors, and generates timely alerts on hazards.
Smart applications centralize this data to detect patterns across space and time for pre-emptive action. Hejje by Bengaluru-based Arratics typifies this data-driven vigilance. Analyzing pugmarks and scat using computer vision and forensics, it builds intelligence on tiger locations and numbers to enable anti-poaching efforts.
Urban leopards on the outskirts of Mumbai. Source: National Geographic
Powered by cloud connectivity, such solutions minimize bandwidth issues in remote forests. Wireless sensor networks further boost agility in evidence gathering. AI algorithms then scour this deluge of inputs to predict threats and animal whereabouts.
Drones are game changers here. Programs like 'Air Shepherd' led by WCCB (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau) fly drones over Pench to spot suspicious human presence and guide rangers. Thermal cameras onboard distinguish humans from animals even amidst dense foliage, expanding patrol coverage.
The Players: Conservation Meets Innovation
WildTrails
Shockingly, 80% of India's Protected Areas lack digitized boundaries. WildTrails fills this critical gap by pinning GPS coordinates of such regions on opensource maps.
Its platform integrates disparate data from drones, camera traps, vehicle logs, habitat assessments, signs and ranger notes into visual dashboards monitoring both wildlife and threat activities.
Pilots in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam), Ranthambore National Park (Rajasthan) and BRT Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) have already leveraged this unified data foundation for swifter responses.
CropIn
Agriculture and wildlife are often positioned as competing for scarce land. AgriTech leader CropIn is changing this narrative by mitigating conflict drivers.
Its satellite-based predictive algorithms forewarn forest-fringe farmers on elephant migration routes prone to crop damage. Early SMS alerts help communities make adequate arrangements to avoid hostile confrontations.
Image processing capabilities also identify degraded forest patches for targeted reforestation in partnership with the forest department. Restoring such natural habitats keeps crops and communities safe while providing roaming room for elephants.
Chainveri
Blockchain's immutability and traceability are potent weapons against poaching. Assam startup Chainveri deploys blockchain and IoT to create tamperproof records of captive elephants.
RFID tags on each elephant store all ownership and medical history on a shared ledger synced with Aadhaar cards of attendants. Any unauthorized attempts to delete/alter elephant identity automatically notifies concerned enforcers.
This guards against illegal capture and forged permits rampant in elephant trafficking while enabling rescue of abused captives swiftly.
The Future: Responsibility Meets Possibility
Despite such promising pilots, most solutions operate in silos at a miniscule scale relative to the magnitude of conservation challenges. Policymakers, businesses, NGOs and technologists must collaborate to amplify isolated efforts into population-level protections.
Bringing together such stakeholders, initiatives like MSTrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers Intensive Patrolling and Ecological Status) spearheaded by WII exemplify the power of an integrated approach. This comprehensive database on tiger ecology guides the National Tiger Conservation Authority on region-specific management strategies balancing tiger needs and human concerns.
Ultimately, protecting wildlife warrants redefining 'development' to prioritize environmental sustainability. Technology bereft of empathy risks alienating the very communities sharing spaces with endangered species. Instead, solutions designed with their concerns can convert conflict into coexistence.
India's identity and survival are inextricably tied to its incredible creatures. Harnessing responsible tech while honoring their right to thrive could be our lasting legacy. When innovation meets compassion, a wild and wonderful future awaits.
