First thermal drone imagery of wild elephants recorded in Wokha, Nagaland

Acting on information about elephants near the agricultural fields of Seluku village, a team of the Wokha Forest Division deployed a thermal drone on the night of 5 October and located a herd of an estimated 8–10 wild elephants in the forest adjoining the village.

Following confirmation, the team met village level authorities of Seluku, and informed them of the elephants' presence so that villagers could exercise caution, particularly while accessing agricultural fields and the village council of Koio was also informed of the same.

As per release issued by Suman W M Sivachar IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Wokha Forest Division  on Wednesday the team was led by Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer, with Bibenthung Ngullie, Forest Guard, and community members  Mhaden E. Odyuo and  W. Nchumbemo Kikon.

After inspecting the forest and field edges on foot, the team flew the thermal drone over the forest canopy, where the body heat of the elephants showed up clearly despite the dense vegetation and darkness. The herd size is an estimate based on the team's thermal scan and field observation

Stating that the footage is the first thermal drone imagery of wild elephants recorded in Nagaland the release added that thermal monitoring gives the Forest Department an additional means of locating elephants under forest cover and tracking their movement, so that communities can be warned in time and areas of likely conflict identified in advance.

As per the release, the drone was flown at a safe height to avoid disturbing the animals. Thermal drones act as a supplementary tool for locating elephants at night and in poor visibility, to support early warning and rapid response.

It is also stated that the capacity of the departmental frontline staff is being improved in drone operation so that such capabilit can be extended to other conflict prones areas of the landscape

The activity was undertaken under the Forest & Biodiversity Management in the Himalaya (Nagaland) Project, supported by KfW, with the objective of strengthening practical approaches for monitoring elephant movement, providing timely alerts, and reducing human–elephant conflict in vulnerable areas.

The DFO advised residents to not approach, chase or provoke elephants, to avoid moving alone in fields at dusk and night when elephants are reported nearby, and to report any sighting immediately to the Wildlife Control Room toll-free helpline 1800-2020-878 or the nearest forest office.