Case Study

Raigarh Division Live Demonstration
March 2026

A live field demonstration of AI-powered thermal elephant detection at Bangursia Range, Raigarh Division. Senior forest officials witnessed real-time detection, acoustic deterrence activation, and documented critical adaptive elephant behavior that reshaped our deployment strategy.

Raigarh Division Live Demo -- Officials Present March 2026 Detection Confirmed

GAJ-DASTAK presentation to forest officials at Bangursia Range, Raigarh Division

Official Demonstration -- Bangursia Range

Government Partnership

Under Senior IFS Guidance

The Raigarh demonstration was conducted under the guidance of senior Indian Forest Service officers, reinforcing GAJ-DASTAK's position as a government-validated human-elephant conflict mitigation technology.

V. Sreenivasa Rao, IFS

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Chhattisgarh -- Strategic oversight for technology evaluation and CAMPA scheme integration

DFO, Raigarh Division (IFS)

Divisional Forest Officer -- Direct supervision of live demonstration and field performance evaluation at Bangursia Range

GAJ-DASTAK team with forest officer during Raigarh demonstration

Field Coordination

GAJ-DASTAK team coordinating with forest officers at Bangursia Range during live demonstration

Acknowledgment

Formal acknowledgment to PCCF and DFO for their guidance and support throughout the evaluation process

Context

Bangursia Range, Raigarh Division

Following the extended deployment at Jashpur Division in 2025, the Chhattisgarh Forest Department requested a live demonstration at Bangursia Range in Raigarh Division — one of the state's highest-conflict corridors for human-elephant encounters.

This demonstration was conducted under the guidance of PCCF V. Sreenivasa Rao (IFS) and senior CCF-level officers. Senior forest officials were present on-site to observe the system's real-time performance in active elephant territory.

Site Overview

Bangursia Range -- forest edge terrain at the deployment site

Unit Positioning

System positioned along known elephant approach path

Deployment environment at Bangursia Range

Terrain Context

Dense forest-edge environment -- the operational challenge

The Challenge

A High-Conflict Corridor

Raigarh Division sits along one of Chhattisgarh's most active elephant movement corridors. The district has seen a sharp increase in human-elephant encounters in recent years, with crop destruction, property damage, and — most critically — loss of human life.

Traditional methods — torches, firecrackers, patrol teams on foot — remain reactive. By the time an elephant herd is spotted, the window for safe deterrence has already narrowed. Forest staff are exposed to danger, and communities living at the forest edge have no early warning.

The department needed a technology-driven solution that could detect elephants before contact, operate autonomously at night, and provide actionable alerts to ground teams.

Night-time movement

Elephant herds move primarily after dark, when human visibility is near zero and patrols are most vulnerable.

Dense forest cover

Thick vegetation obscures line of sight. Thermal imaging cuts through foliage where visible-light cameras fail.

Reactive response gap

Current alert systems depend on human spotting. By the time patrol teams respond, conflict has often already occurred.

Deployment Setup

System Configuration

The GAJ-DASTAK unit was positioned at a strategic vantage point along a known elephant approach path at Bangursia Range. The system was fully armed and operational for the demonstration period.

Installation

System setup and calibration at the deployment point -- camera alignment and response system testing

System Armed

All subsystems confirmed operational -- thermal camera, AI inference, acoustic deterrence, SMS alerting

Detection Stack

Thermal Camera High-resolution thermal, optimized optics

Resolution High-resolution

AI Processing Edge AI processor + hardware accelerator

Model Optimized AI, real-time inference

Response Systems

Acoustic Deterrence Active & Armed

SMS Alerts Connected & Tested

Power Solar + Battery

Operation Mode 24/7 Autonomous

AI Detection

Thermal AI in Action

Real-time thermal detection at Bangursia Range. The AI system continuously analyzes high-resolution thermal frames, identifying elephant thermal signatures against the forest environment -- day or night, through dust, fog, and rain.

Thermal detection screenshot from Bangursia deployment

AI Inference Active

Thermal camera feed with real-time AI detection overlay

Alternative thermal view showing heat signature analysis

Thermal Signature Analysis

Heat signature differentiation -- wildlife vs. vegetation and terrain

Field Timeline

Day-by-Day: What Happened in the Field

Day 1 -- System Operational

Deployment & Baseline Monitoring

The system was deployed and began continuous thermal monitoring. All subsystems confirmed operational -- camera, AI inference, acoustic deterrence, and SMS alerting. Forest officials observed the system's autonomous operation and real-time monitoring interface. No elephant movement was detected on the primary approach path during Day 1, providing a clean baseline for system behavior under normal conditions.

Day 1

System monitoring active

Officials

Officers observing real-time feed

Baseline

Clean baseline established

Day 2 -- Critical Finding

Live Elephant Detection & Adaptive Behavior Documented

An elephant was detected on the primary approach path. The AI model triggered a positive identification. Acoustic deterrence activated. The elephant retreated from the deterrence zone. Then the critical observation occurred.

Adaptive Elephant Behavior Documented

After the acoustic deterrence activated, the elephant retreated from the coverage zone. Then, the critical observation: the elephant re-entered from an alternate direction, circumventing the single-point deterrence coverage. This was not random — it was a deliberate change of approach vector after encountering the deterrence stimulus.

Elephants adapt. Single-point deterrence is not enough.

Field observations during Day 2 at Bangursia

Day 2 -- Detection Event

Field team documenting the detection event and elephant behavior patterns

Post-Detection Analysis

Analyzing approach vectors and deterrence coverage gaps after the re-entry event

Directional blind zones confirmed

A single unit cannot cover all approach paths to a protected area. The re-entry from an alternate direction confirmed that directional coverage gaps are a real operational limitation, not a theoretical concern.

Placement sensitivity documented

Detection quality and deterrence effectiveness changed significantly based on the unit's position relative to the elephant's movement path. Optimal placement requires understanding of local terrain and established animal corridors.

Results

Demonstration Outcomes

Confirmed

Real-time thermal elephant detection in live field conditions

Documented

Adaptive elephant behavior — re-entry from alternate direction

Validated

Multi-unit network deployment strategy as the necessary next step

Summary of Outcomes

Live Detection Successful

Acoustic Deterrence Triggered & Effective

SMS Alert Delivery Confirmed

Adaptive Behavior Documented

Multi-Unit Strategy Validated

CAMPA Procurement Case Strengthened

Official field trial report cover for Bangursia demonstration

Strategic Implications

What Raigarh Taught Us

Single-point deterrence is insufficient for intelligent wildlife.

The Raigarh demonstration proved what behavioral science predicted: elephants learn, adapt, and change approach vectors when they encounter a deterrence point. A single static unit creates a deterrence zone, not a deterrence perimeter. Elephants route around it.

Network deployment is the future

Multiple coordinated units creating overlapping detection and deterrence zones are required to establish a true protective perimeter. This directly informed the Network Series product line.

Tier-2 mobile unit accelerated

The coverage gap problem is most immediately addressed by vehicle-mounted patrol units. A mobile unit on a patrol vehicle can provide 360-degree scanning coverage that moves with the threat.

Vehicle-mounted patrol addresses coverage gaps

Where static units have fixed fields of view, a patrol vehicle with thermal scanning can sweep approach corridors dynamically — covering the blind zones that elephants exploit.

Behavioral data shapes product design

Every field deployment generates behavioral data about how elephants interact with deterrence systems. This data feeds directly back into our AI models and deterrence algorithms, making the system progressively smarter.

Raigarh Division Live Demonstration
March 2026

Under Senior IFS Guidance

Bangursia Range, Raigarh Division