WildGuard AI

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  WildGuard AI

Inspiration

Our project was inspired by the rising human–wildlife conflict in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. Villages near forests often face encounters with animals like the Indian Leopard and Himalayan Black Bear. News reports show that over 1,000 people have died in wildlife attacks in Uttarakhand since 2000, highlighting the urgent need for better early warning systems. This motivated us to build a technology-based solution that can warn people before dangerous encounters happen.

What it does

WildGuard AI is an AI-powered wildlife detection and alert system. It analyzes images or camera inputs and detects dangerous animals. When an animal is identified, the system generates instant alerts and alarm sounds to warn nearby users so they can move to safety.

How we built it

We built the system using Python, Ultralytics YOLOv8 for AI-based animal detection, and Gradio to create a simple web interface. Alerts are triggered using Pabbly Connect webhooks to send real-time notifications when an animal is detected.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was collecting and organizing wildlife images to train the model effectively. Another challenge was ensuring the AI model could correctly differentiate between similar animals while maintaining fast detection speed.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully built a working prototype that can detect wildlife and trigger alerts in real time. We also added an awareness and quiz module to educate users about safety practices and human–wildlife conflict.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned about computer vision, deep learning, real-time alert systems, and building interactive AI applications. We also gained insight into how technology can support wildlife conservation and community safety.

What's next for WildGuard AI

In the future, we plan to integrate the system with Internet of Things wearable devices so children and villagers can receive alerts if a wild animal is nearby. We also aim to connect the system with forest monitoring cameras to provide real-time protection in villages near forests.

Built With

• python