Acting on information about elephants near the agricultural fields of Seluku village, a team from the Wokha Forest Division deployed a thermal drone on the night of 5 October 2026 and located a herd of an estimated 8–10 wild elephants in the forest adjoining the village. Following confirmation, the team met with the village-level authorities of Seluku and informed them about the presence of the elephants so that villagers could exercise caution, particularly while accessing agricultural fields. The Village Council of Koio was also informed accordingly.

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The team was led by Shri Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer, along with Shri Bibenthung Ngullie, Forest Guard, and community members Shri Mhaden E. Odyuo and Shri W. Nchumbemo Kikon. After inspecting the forest and field edges on foot, the team flew the thermal drone over the forest canopy, where the body heat of the elephants was clearly visible despite the dense vegetation and darkness. The herd size is an estimate based on the team’s thermal scan and field observations.

The footage represents the first thermal drone imagery of wild elephants recorded in Nagaland. Thermal monitoring provides the Forest Department with an additional means of locating elephants under forest cover and tracking their movements, enabling communities to be warned in time and areas of likely human–elephant conflict to be identified in advance. The drone was flown at a safe height to avoid disturbing the animals. Thermal drones serve as a supplementary tool for locating elephants at night and in conditions of poor visibility, supporting early warning and rapid response.

The capacity of Departmental frontline staff is being strengthened in drone operation so that this capability can be extended to other conflict-prone areas across the landscape.

The activity was undertaken under the Forest & Biodiversity Management in the Himalaya (Nagaland) Project, supported by KfW, with the objective of strengthening practical approaches for monitoring elephant movements, providing timely alerts, and reducing human–elephant conflict in vulnerable areas.

Public Advisory

Residents are advised not to approach, chase, or provoke elephants. People are also advised to avoid moving alone in agricultural fields at dusk and at night when elephants have been reported nearby. Any elephant sighting should be reported immediately to the Wildlife Control Room toll-free helpline at 1800-2020-878 or to the nearest forest office.