High tech and poaching: The upside, the downside

Technology is an important tool in the fight against wildlife poaching. A few examples:

• Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya—East Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary—is a pioneer in testing the use of drones to track and protect its wildlife. (Read more here.)

• Kenya is also implanting microchips in rhino horns—to follow the animals as well as to track poached horns.

• Save the Elephants uses GPS collars to track elephants’ movements and generate detailed real-time maps. Understanding elephant movements helps to minimize human-animal conflict, and when an ele stops moving, it’s a pretty good sign that it may have been killed, giving rangers and researchers a heads-up to areas of poaching activity.

Sadly—and it’s no surprise, I guess—the bad guys are using technology, too. I was sorry to see this reportabout hackers trying to access the information in GPS collars on Bengal tigers.

If you’d like to make a difference, consider supporting groups like Ol Pejeta and Save the Elephants as they try to use technology for the benefit of wildlife.

#Elephants #OlPejetaConservancy #Poaching #Rhinos #SaveTheElephants #Tigers