Regulating Emerging Technologies in Wildlife Conservation: Legal and Policy Challenges of AI, Drones, and DNA Tracking in India

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_7How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Wildlife Conservation; Emerging Technologies; Wildlife Crime Enforcement; Environmental Law

Abstract

Wildlife conservation and enforcement strategies have been transformed drastically with the use of artificial intelligence, drones and DNA based forensic technology. To monitor wildlife habitats, prevent poaching and to strengthen evidentially base mechanism in wildlife crime prosecution these technologies are being employed by Indian agencies. These technologies have significant merit in conservation measures, however they raise complex constitutional questions that remain unaddressed within the present legal framework. In this paper, authors examine the limit to which India’s wildlife conservation laws and policies are equipped to these technologies. It argues that though the agencies have embraced technology driven solutions, there is a need to evolve the legal framework. An examination of these technological tools are done which influence wildlife conservation in India. It explores the practical challenges behind the use of these technologies in wildlife crime detection and conservation, inclusive of questions of evidentiary reliability of data generated and continuing limitations in institutional capacity. Lastly, the paper examines the ethical dimensions of conservation policies based on technology specifically examining the risk of excessive surveillance and marginalization of local communities, underlying the debate that unregulated technological expansion is undermining legitimacy.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Akhilendra Singh
AU  - Mradul Singh
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/07
TI  - Regulating Emerging Technologies in Wildlife Conservation: Legal and Policy Challenges of AI, Drones, and DNA Tracking in India
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Conceptualizing Legal Framework and Policies for Domestic Animal and Wildlife Conservation: Issues and Challenges in Hybrid Mode (ICAR 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 73
EP  - 83
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_7
ID  - Singh2026
ER  -