Fifteen artificial intelligence (AI) cameras have been installed on a trial basis along elephant routes in the Garo Hills of Nalitabari, Sherpur. As soon as a camera detects a wild elephant, an alert reaches mobile phones through the Telegram app within a minute. Forest staff and members of the Elephant Response Team (ERT) then hurry to the spot and warn local people.
The problem is old. In the border hills of Sreebardi, Jhenaigati and Nalitabari, herds of wild elephants come down into villages in search of food and water and damage crops. Villagers who try to drive them off with torches, drums and shouting are drawn into deadly clashes. According to the wildlife management and nature conservation division, 33 elephants and 34 people have died in human-elephant conflict in the area over 13 years.
The cameras stand at Samchura, Madhutila, Burunga, Dalukona, Dawdhara-Katabari and other points on elephant paths. The pilot project is run with the Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation, Creative Conservation Alliance and Grameenphone. Forest staff and ERT members can now prepare before the elephants reach the villages.
Arfan Ali, president of the Samchura ERT, said news of elephants used to come too late and people panicked when one suddenly appeared; now the cameras give early warning, and elephant attacks in the area have fallen considerably. Local resident Almas Mia said early warning gives people the chance to move to safety.
Kawsar Hossain, Samchura beat officer of the Madhutila range, said cameras along the elephant corridors could make people much safer. Range officer Abdul Karim said five kilometres of bio-fencing and five hectares of bamboo, as food for the elephants, are being set up in the affected parts of Nalitabari in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Abrar Ahmad, community governance specialist at Creative Conservation Alliance, said early information lets the situation be handled without harming the elephants.
Those involved say 15 cameras are not enough for such a large hill area, and residents including Rahmat Ali of Dawdhara-Katabari want more of the elephants' routes covered. Environmentalists note that cameras can warn people but cannot solve the root problems of shrinking habitat, scarce food and water, and blocked migration paths.
The report is by Mizanur Rahman, samakal's correspondent in Nalitabari, Sherpur.
Photo: Ayman Nakib Badhan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: samakal
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