Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2024 | 16(6): 25482–25485
ISSN
0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8873.16.6.25482-25485
#8873 | Received 12 December 2023 | Final received 10 April 2024 |
Finally accepted 18 June 2024
Design and field installation of automated electronic Asian Elephant
signage for human safety
Sanjoy Deb 1, Ramkumar Ravindran 2 & Saravana
Kumar Radhakrishnan 3
1,2 Department of ECE, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam,
Tamil Nadu 638401, India.
3 School of Electronics
Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai Campus, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu 600127, India.
1 sanjoydeb@bitsathy.ac.in, 2 ramkumarr@bitsathy.ac.in,
3 r.saravanakumar@vit.ac.in (corresponding author)
Editor: Heidi Riddle, Riddle’s Elephant
and Wildlife Sanctuary, Arkansas, United States. Date of publication:
26 June 2024 (online & print)
Citation: Deb, S., R. Ravindran & S.K.
Radhakrishnan (2024). Design and field installation of automated
electronic Asian Elephant signage for human safety. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(6): 25482–25485. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8873.16.6.25482-25485
Copyright: © Deb et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: We received funding from ‘The Elephant Managers Association (EMA)’ in the Small Grant Program on 6.7.2022.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
The Human-elephant interactions have intensified exponentially over the
years across tropical and subtropical countries of Asia and Africa. As human
habitation is gradually overtaking the traditional elephant territories, the
conflicts become more regular and extreme. The conflict not only causes
financial turmoil in those remote areas, but it also causes fatal injuries and
even deaths of both humans and elephants (Shaffer et al. 2019). When associated
with India, the number of human deaths due to elephant attacks is significantly
high and is a serious concern (Nath et al. 2009). One of the major reasons for
such high numbers of human deaths is ‘surprising human-elephant encounters’ at
remote elephant crossing points during night hours. Even though elephant corridor
locations are mostly precise, it’s difficult to identify them in the dark even
for the locals. Whereas for outsiders, either in a vehicle or on foot, it’s
like moving through a deadly conflict zone without any hint of danger. Some of
the crossing points are marked mostly with retroreflector signboards by the
forest department and NGOs. Since they don’t possess inherent luminescence,
these objects remain invisible from a distance at night and require a specific
angle of vehicle headlights to be illuminated (Karanth
& Ranganathan 2018). Along with financial loss due to crop raids, such
human death creates a terrifying and tense environment in those remote pocket
areas which sometimes counter-fire by the killing of elephants through poison
and electrocution (Panda et al. 2020). One of the possible solutions to
neutralize the situation is to demark the elephant crossing points with
electronic elephant signage (EES). The EES is an elephant-shaped light that
glows during the night to warn vehicles and people about the specific location
of the elephant crossing points and thus help them to take proactive measures
to avoid any potential conflict. This innovative solution has the potential to
significantly reduce human-elephant interactions, saving lives and preserving
the delicate balance of our ecosystems.
The iterative co-designed Indigenous EES is pragmatic and aesthetic to
be Indigenous-specific and relevant in this practical real-world application
(Image 1) with a 12-in. x 12-in. x 2-in. (H x L x W) waterproof plastic
enclosure with a LASER cut elephant shape as the front cover. This device is
shown as a block diagram in Figure 1 and contains an integrated solar panel,
battery, and electronic circuits. This has a darkness sensor that turns on the
unit at night, where it flashes every second until being turned off in the
sunlight so that it can get people’s attention from a far distance without
running all day on battery. The ‘reference voltage adjusting’ potentiometer is
to set the switching on-off time and the ‘pulse duration adjustment’
potentiometer is to adjust the on-off duration of the light. The signage has
four sets of 0-watt red LED lights, each set containing four lights. A red
glossy reflector sheet on the back boosts the light intensity.
A manual control switch is given for the user to make the signage ‘on’
or ‘off’. The overall weight of the signage is 1.1 kg therefore it can be
easily clamped over any pre-existing structures (pole, wall, and even on the
tree wood) and thus extremely suitable for field installation. Even though it
is relatively small, it’s extremely bright and technically superior to any
other existing comparative design. This innovative EES, designed and developed
entirely in India, stands out for its affordability (Rs.
1,600 INR/unit) and unique features. The built-in darkness sensor and control
circuit automatically adjusts lighting based on ambient light, optimizing
energy usage and reducing operating costs compared to passive non-self-glowing
signage. Its user-configurable settings further enhance its adaptability and
value.
The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), which
is one of the prime human-elephant interphase hotspots on the Indian map, is
selected for electronic elephant signage installation under the present
project. The NH948 and the number of state highways form a mesh-like structure
that spreads through forest buffers and core areas. There are hundreds of elephant crossing points over the forest road network.
Moreover, there are hundreds of elephant activity zones in remote village areas
that are scattered all over the STR. The spot identified for signage
installation in the STR area after consecutive field surveys with the forest
department at 15 elephant crossing points, as shown in Image 1. Images 2–4 show
various stages of the EES installation project such as design testing and field
installation. The devices were installed in September 2023 and have been
running successfully ever since. The radiant elephant signage has received
praise from residents, nature lovers, the Forest Department, and other
stakeholders. Common questions address the night time visibility, the placement
of the signs, and the response time to visual notifications. The feedback from
readers is greatly appreciated and will be considered in future iterations of
the electronic elephant signage.
For figures
& images - - click here for full PDF
References
Karanth, K.K. & P. Ranganathan (2018). Assessing human-wildlife interactions in a forest settlement in sathyamangalam and mudumalai
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Nath, N.K., B.P. Lahkar, N. Brahma, S. Dey, J.P.
Das, P.K. Sarma & B.K. Talukdar (2009). An assessment of human-elephant conflict in Manas
National Park, Assam, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(6): 309–316. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o1821.309-16
Panda, P.P., T. Noyal & S. Dasgupta (2020). Best Practices of Human-Elephant Conflict Management in India.
Published by Elephant Cell, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand,
41 pp. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/HEC-Brochure-%20Version%208-min.pdf
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