When elephants and humans inhabit the same land, conflict is inevitable and includes crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans to protect their livelihood.  This problem is currently occurring in Vietnam and the use of new technology is welcomed to try and negate elephant-human conflict.

Drones are fast becoming conservation must haves and allows researchers to safely monitor wildlife from a distance, with the inclusion of thermal sensors, the detection rates of mammals vastly increases against the backdrop of cold vegetation.  This is particularly advantageous for monitoring large mammals that are more active during early mornings, evenings, and at night, such as the Asian elephant.

After interviewing local people regarding human-elephant conflict in Dong Nai, Vietnam, researchers from Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) were able to locate specific entry and exit points from the nearby forests where elephants stay during the day and emerge at night to forage for food. With the support of The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, SVW researchers are able to safely and effectively monitor elephant populations in Dong Nai.  They do this by using thermal drone flights at these points to monitor elephant behaviours and identify core use areas and emergence points.

The next phase of the project will be to set AI cameras in these emergency points where elephants come to forage in agricultural areas at night, whereby local people will receive alerts in real-time alerting them of the presence of elephants nearby. With the assistance of new conservation technologies, human-elephant conflict mitigation and elephant research and monitoring is safer, more effective, and beneficial to humans and wildlife alike.