3 hrs ago
Gujarat to Launch AI Wildlife Surveillance Centre for Lions
Gujarat is building a high-tech centre to watch wild animals.
The centre will be in Gandhinagar and will receive live video and other information.
Cameras, drones and artificial intelligence will help track animals such as lions, bears and wild asses.
Officials hope this will warn people when dangerous animals are nearby.
It may also help prevent road accidents and improve forest management.
The plan was announced after several lion and sloth bear attacks.
Gujarat is also protecting a rare Great Indian Bustard chick in a large enclosure in Kutch.
Officials say they are caring for the chick carefully because very few female birds remain in the state.
Gujarat is installing a Rs 150-crore Command and Control Centre in Gandhinagar to monitor wildlife across protected habitats.
The system will combine CCTV, drones, AI cameras and body-worn cameras to provide live information and alerts.
The project will focus on lions while also covering wild asses, blackbucks and sloth bears.
The centre follows repeated human-wildlife conflicts, including three reported lion incidents in July.
Gujarat has created a 100-hectare enclosure in Kutch to protect its second Great Indian Bustard chick.
- Who
- The Gujarat government, led in this announcement by Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia, is implementing the project.
- What
- A Rs 150-crore AI-supported Command and Control Centre will monitor wildlife and forest activities and provide live alerts.
- Where
- The centre will be located in Gandhinagar, with surveillance covering Gujarat’s protected habitats, including Greater Gir, Little Rann of Kutch, Velavadar and Banaskantha.
- When
- The system is already under installation; three major lion incidents were reported in July.
- Why
- The project is intended to speed up emergency responses, reduce human-wildlife conflicts and road accidents, and support forest management.
Key facts
- Project cost
- Rs 150 crore
- Control centre
- Gandhinagar
- Main technology
- CCTV, drones, AI-based cameras and body-worn cameras
- Primary focus
- Asiatic lions, especially in Greater Gir
- Other wildlife covered
- Indian wild asses, blackbucks and sloth bears
- Lion population
- 891 lions across 11 districts in the last census
- Bustard protection
- A 100-hectare enclosure has been created in Kutch for the second Great Indian Bustard chick
- Past train deaths
- 19 lions died after train collisions between 2014 and 2024
Quotes
Arjun Modhwadia
Gujarat Forest and Environment Minister
“The Command and Control Centre (CCC) will be in Gandhinagar, but surveillance will be done of the wildlife areas and our (forest) activities. (These areas) will be connected (with CCC) through CCTV network. At the same time, we will also use drones and AI (artificial intelligence- based camera network), so that we can alert the people in the vicinity if there is any accident or movement. We will erect a network of CCTV in the Greater Gir”
indianexpress.com
“The network will reduce road accidents and conflicts. We will be able to get an idea for planning. For example, if a wildlife’s prey base has decreased, we will know. For forest management, if there is overgrowth of a species of trees, the forest department will get an idea for trimming it. The forest department’s activities can be monitored”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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