In India's vast wilderness, where tigers prowl through dense jungles, wild elephants and leopards frequently navigate urban fringes—an invisible war is being fought against poachers and wildlife traffickers. This battle, once reliant solely on forest guards with limited resources, is now being transformed by technology that's reshaping conservation efforts across the subcontinent. Wildlife is precious, and wildlife crimes can bring about devastating outcomes for fragile natural ecosystems which are fast disappearing from our planet. To prevent such crimes more effectively, artificial intelligence (AI) has proved itself to be an intelligent ally. AI powered camera traps and surveillance drones can monitor remote corners where human presence once meant certain danger for both wildlife and protectors, and the timing of this technological revolution couldn't be more critical. The proportion of illegal wildlife trade compared to all wildlife trade has been increasing since 2017, according to a recent report on wildlife crimes, making India's fight against trafficking more urgent than ever.
AI for prevention of illegal trade
Founded by young engineering graduates Allen Shaji and Sobin Mathew in 2017, Kerala based Leopard Tech Labs recognised a critical gap in wildlife protection and built solutions for tracking and managing conservation-related offences. The technology today helps hundreds if not thousands of forest officials in curbing events like poaching and abduction of animals for illegal and tainted goals. Hostile Activity Watch Kernel or HAWK, is a centralised data management software that provides real-time information to frontline forest staff, enabling them to make timely and effective decisions. Early development stage saw active support from both the Kerala Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). “Since its initial launch in Kerala in 2019 and official adoption by the state in 2021, HAWK has transformed crime management by reducing human error and automating offence documentation”, says Jose Louies, CEO, Wildlife Trust of India.
From thermal imaging to AI systems, technology is leveling the playing field in conservation. “Before the implementation of HAWK, data from a particular forest range was typically limited to that office and, at most, the division office. Now the data is shared across the entire state”, explained Louies. When a crime is registered and details are entered into the system, the information becomes instantly accessible to all HAWK users across the state. For example, if a vehicle involved in a previous offence arrives at a forest check post, staff receives a live alert identifying the vehicle’s history.
Warning systems for humans
For decades, an elephant matriarch named ‘Van Devi’ by researchers in Chhattisgarh, had led her herd along ancient pathways carved by generations of elephants through the borderlands of two states. With habitat loss, those familiar routes are disappearing rapidly. Where once continuous forest corridors had stretched for miles, mining operations and development projects have carved up the landscape into isolated fragments. The elephants found themselves pushed into unfamiliar territory of villages and farmlands of Chhattisgarh, where neither them nor humans were prepared for such intimate proximity.
Vayu being given a bath during his return journey, to provide respite from north India's heat |
The arrival of these displaced herds created a crisis that demanded innovation. “Traditional methods of managing human-elephant conflict were proving inadequate for communities suddenly thrust into the path of these confused and displaced animals”, explains Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-Founder of WildlifeSOS. “What was needed was foresight, the ability to anticipate their movements before conflict could erupt.”
Named after tree nuts, Macadamia is the oldest one in the group |
Thus, in 2018 after careful planning with the Chhattisgarh Forest Department, WildlifeSOS fitted Van Devi with a GPS collar, transforming her into an unwitting guardian of peace between two species. The breakthrough came in recognising that the technology for research could also fuel community preparation. Her location updates were fed into a network of WhatsApp groups connecting forest officials, village leaders, young volunteers, and farmers across the region, creating an early warning system that gave communities precious hours to prepare for an encounter with one of nature's most formidable forces.
A new frontier
Data alone however wouldn't save lives. Analytics and insights from the collected data can enable proactive and preventive actions, as in the case of HAWK. Integrating AI capabilities, the system automatically identifies and extracts critical information from unstructured data like reports or communications. It can further map relationships and associations between offenders to detect organised activity or recurring crime patterns. Predictive modelling identifies potential poaching hotspots, enabling proactive deployment and strategic planning. These AI-driven features enhance HAWK’s ability to analyse trends, predict risks, and uncover hidden connections, significantly improving enforcement efficiency and decision-making.
While NGOs and conservation agencies can support such projects, the onus lies with the government agencies appointed to protect our wildlife, as well as the data itself. “All data entered into the HAWK system is the exclusive property of the Forest Department. Any actions taken based on this data are official in nature”, Louies noted. Training for optimum application of technological aid is also provided by WTI, where a team manages the system’s development and provides staff training across the target states. It now works across states including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and is currently under field testing in Odisha.
Beyond HAWK, Leopard Tech Labs has also developed an ecosystem of conservation tools including SARPA for snake rescue operations, ‘Jumbo Radar’ for elephant monitoring, and ‘WildWatch’ for human-animal conflict prevention. These technologies create predictive models that identify conflict hotspots through multi-year data analysis, enabling proactive interventions rather than reactive responses.
The leopard has been transferred to the Manikdoh rescue centre for recovery |
Technology does not replace the human heart at the center of conservation but amplifies it, giving protectors eyes to see in the dark, ears to hear across vast distances, and the power to be everywhere their wildlife charges need them to be. As poachers grow more sophisticated, so too must those who stand against them, armed not just with dedication, but with digital tools that can finally tip the scales toward justice for wildlife crimes.
