Baripada: The Forest Department will deploy over 500 new artificial intelligence-enabled surveillance cameras in vulnerable zones of Similipal Tiger Reserve within the next three to four months to strengthen wildlife conservation and curb poaching.
STR Field Director and Regional Chief Conservator of Forests Prakash Chand Gogineni said the addition will expand real-time monitoring coverage by around 50 per cent and help track wildlife movement and forest activities more effectively.
Gogineni added that the existing surveillance network has already aided in identifying and arresting several persons trying to enter the reserve illegally, which he termed a major success for wildlife protection efforts.
Similipal, a key tiger habitat and well-known elephant reserve in India, already relies on AI-based surveillance to guard its core and buffer areas against poachers and illegal timber felling.
The new cameras will be connected to communication towers and equipped to detect forest fires by sensing smoke. Images will be relayed to forest staff almost instantly to enable quick action. The reserve currently uses AI-powered trail guard systems and pan-tilt-zoom robotic cameras for tracking movement within the forest. These devices automatically record images of people, vehicles and two-wheelers entering restricted zones. GPS-tagged photos are sent to officials within two minutes, allowing patrol teams to intercept suspected intruders promptly.
At present, about 900 AI cameras are operational across Similipal’s North and South divisions, as well as the Baripada, Rairangpur and Karanjia forest divisions.
Following positive results, the department has purchased 500 additional cameras at an estimated cost of Rs 2.25 crore. Installation is underway across 1,300 forest beats in five divisions.
