6 days ago
Tamil Nadu launches forests, wildlife crime management system ‘HAWK'
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has launched Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK), a digital-cum-centralised forests and wildlife crime management system similar to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) used by the police.
Tamil Nadu is the third State, after Kerala and Karnataka, to implement the software, which was developed by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and IT services provider NTT DATA. Odisha is in the process of implementing the software.
Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched a customised version of HAWK for Tamil Nadu Forest Department during the World Elephant Day celebrations held in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
According to WTI, HAWK is an advanced monitoring and intelligence platform that will help the Forest Department fight against wildlife crime, improve forest surveillance, and protect endangered species. By integrating real-time data analysis, field reporting, and rapid response mechanisms, the software will also strengthen the Department to prevent hostile activities, enhance conservation efficiency and mitigate threats to wildlife habitats.
As part of the implementation, WTI trained the Department staff across the State. HAWK operates through four integrated modules — Peregrine for forest and wildlife crime management, Shikra for wildlife mortality reporting, Harrier for offender monitoring (mobile-based), and Kestrel for legacy data integration.
'As of now, Peregrine and Shikra modules of HAWK have been implemented in Tamil Nadu. Now, a wildlife offence report on a poaching incident can be processed with simple procedures using the Peregrine module. It can handle all the processes from the initial reporting of an offence to judgement by court and generate reports,' explained Sethu Gopinathan from WTI.
When information related to wildlife mortality, for example elephant deaths, are uploaded on HAWK through Shikra module, the software can generate region or State-wise reports or even analyse trends.
Integration of Harrier and Kestrel modules is currently under way for HAWK in Tamil Nadu. Harrier, which is a mobile application module, enables analysis of individuals involved in wildlife crimes, especially habitual offenders. Kestrel is to compile and manage information related to older cases.
The Named Entity Recognition feature of HAWK extracts key data like offender names, locations and aliases from textual inputs. The network analysis maps offender relationships to reveal criminal networks and recurring patterns. The predictive modelling feature forecasts poaching hotspots using historical data. Based on the data, staff at a forest check post can find out whether a vehicle stopped by them had been involved in a forest or wildlife offence previously.
Mr. Gopinathan added that HAWK designed for each State can also be integrated, if required. It can also be linked with other platforms like the CCTNS through API integration.
