Pune: The forest department’s Junnar division is currently working with a city-based organisation to develop and implement an artificial intelligence system to prevent leopard attacks. This system can be easily attached to CCTV cameras on sugar cane farms to alert villagers and forest officials of leopard sightings . The department had previously installed an AI system in the region, which was deemed successful.
It was primarily installed at Bori village along a road frequented by leopards. Considering the cost efficiency, the division has been planning to implement a more localised system. “Most of the attacks in the region have taken place near residential areas.
Children have been picked up by leopards. This system is being installed to ensure that such incidents do not occur,” said a senior forest department official. Most farmers in the region have installed CCTVs near their farms.
The AI model developed by Sunil Chore, chairman and managing director of Simusoft Technologies, consists of a high-profile microcontroller in a GPU-based minicomputer, which will be placed close to the cameras. The model, to be trained with deep learning, will include a vast database of leopards, behavioural aspects, coat colour, eye movement, and much more. The department and the SimuSoft team are developing a cloud-based web and mobile application for inclusion of all hotspots of leopard conflicts, details regarding recent movements in areas, time, region of leopard sighting or trapping.
“We have been working on this for two to three months now. We are currently improving the hardware to introduce higher resolution cameras to detect leopards, even those hiding in bushes,” said Chore. The cost of the project is pegged at Rs 3 lakh but each unit will be affordably priced once completed.
The system, likely to be ready in a month, will be installed at hotspot villages such as Narayangaon, Shiroli, Magarwadi, Jambut, Pimparkhed, Fakate, Chandoh, and Kakadi declared sensitive zones after the recent attacks. We also published the following articles recently AI tech in CCTV cameras to alert villagers and forest officials of leopard sightings The Junnar division in Pune's forest department is developing an AI system to prevent leopard attacks in collaboration with a local organization. This technology integrates with CCTV cameras on farms, informing villagers and officials of leopard presence and focusing on enhancing safety around residential areas.
AI-based alerts on leopard sightings that work in Tadoba come to Pune district landscape for trials The Junnar division of the forest department considers using AI systems and camera traps to alert officials and locals about leopard sightings. Despite signal timing issues caused by nearby sugarcane fields, this initiative aims to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Narayangaon, Umraj, and Bori will have initial trials.
Leopard that likely killed 55-year-old woman in Junnar trapped In Pune's Jambut village, a 55-year-old woman was killed by a leopard. Her attacked body was found in a sugar cane farm. The forest department captured a suspected leopard and reported several other leopard attacks in nearby areas.
Efforts are underway to relocate problematic leopards and increase patrolling in sensitive zones..
