A stretch of railway near Coimbatore has recorded zero elephant deaths over two and a half years, thanks to artificial intelligence cameras that watch the tracks around the clock.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department installed AI-enabled thermal cameras along a vulnerable line near Puthupathi in the Madukkarai Forest Range. The cameras detect warm bodies in the dark long before a driver could see them, and the AI flags when elephants approach the line.

When an alert fires, forest teams and railway officials coordinate with station masters and loco pilots to slow or stop trains. The system has generated more than 7,100 real-time alerts and helped facilitate around 9,481 safe elephant crossings.

The stakes are high nationally. India holds nearly 60 percent of the world’s wild Asian elephants, and government data put train-collision deaths at 81 over five years to 2024.

Tamil Nadu has now added AI drones to extend surveillance beyond the fixed cameras. Technology and quick human response, together, are saving lives.