Rhino Poaching and Conservation

Jayzesake

'Rhino cams', small cameras together with other instruments such as a heart-beat sensor, inserted into a hole drilled in the horn of a rhino, could bring a high-tech solution to the problem of rhino poaching, which is spiralling out of control. If an animal is shot, the heart sensor triggers an alarm at the ranger base, and rangers will be at the scene by helicopter in minutes, catching poachers red-handed. Apparently poachers don't just shoot one animal and then leave: they take maybe a dozen over a few days, before leaving. This system, if it works, would stop that after the first kill.

Watch to see the world from a rhino's viewpoint:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33590436

If this proves sucessful, maybe the same approach could be used to protect elephant populations.

Capercaillie

Jayzesake wrote: »

'Rhino cams', small cameras together with other instruments such as a heart-beat sensor, inserted into a hole drilled in the horn of a rhino, could bring a high-tech solution to the problem of rhino poaching, which is spiralling out of control. If an animal is shot, the heart sensor triggers an alarm at the ranger base, and rangers will be at the scene by helicopter in minutes, catching poachers red-handed. Apparently poachers don't just shoot one animal and then leave: they take maybe a dozen over a few days, before leaving. This system, if it works, would stop that after the first kill.

Watch to see the world from a rhino's viewpoint:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33590436

If this proves sucessful, maybe the same approach could be used to protect elephant populations.

One problem is that rhino's horn is growing constantly. It would eventually fall out. You would have to continually sedate and put in a new device. A big anaesthesia risk since you din't have an accurate weight of the animal to begin with.

Birdnuts

Jayzesake wrote: »

'Rhino cams', small cameras together with other instruments such as a heart-beat sensor, inserted into a hole drilled in the horn of a rhino, could bring a high-tech solution to the problem of rhino poaching, which is spiralling out of control. If an animal is shot, the heart sensor triggers an alarm at the ranger base, and rangers will be at the scene by helicopter in minutes, catching poachers red-handed. Apparently poachers don't just shoot one animal and then leave: they take maybe a dozen over a few days, before leaving. This system, if it works, would stop that after the first kill.

Watch to see the world from a rhino's viewpoint:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33590436

If this proves sucessful, maybe the same approach could be used to protect elephant populations.

Drone technology too offers some exciting possiblities in the fight against the Rhino crime syndicates.

Jayzesake

Birdnuts wrote: »

Drone technology too offers some exciting possiblities in the fight against the Rhino crime syndicates.

The situation is so dire that the relocation of some Rhino populations out of Africa, possibly to Texas, is also being considered:

http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/may/11/poaching-white-rhino-south-africa-texas-rhinoceros

recedite

The rhino cam is a bit gimmicky. The poachers would saw off the horn, plus get a free camera, and then get out of there before the helicopter arrived.
The heart rate monitor combined with the GPS tag and the mobile phone dialler seems like a useful technology though. If it was fitted to one in ten animals, and kept hidden, it could work as a monitored burglar alarm. The poachers could be caught before they even knew the alarm was raised.

Jayzesake

recedite wrote: »

The rhino cam is a bit gimmicky. The poachers would saw off the horn, plus get a free camera, and then get out of there before the helicopter arrived.
The heart rate monitor combined with the GPS tag and the mobile phone dialler seems like a useful technology though. If it was fitted to one in ten animals, and kept hidden, it could work as a monitored burglar alarm. The poachers could be caught before they even knew the alarm was raised.

Capercaillie's point about having to periodically anaesthetise animals, and the risks of death and other negative effects that brings, is a good one. Fitting any kind of monitors directly to the rhino obviously involves taking that risk.

I looked at a few bits and pieces about 'Conservation Drones' after seeing Birdnuts' post, and that seems a better way to go. Some conservationists are opposed to it on the grounds that it may risk alienating local communities, who might feel they were being spied on using anti-terrorist methods, thereby treating them all as somehow guilty.

I don't buy that myself though. I think those locals who want to see wildlife avoid extinction, and who understand the extent of the present crisis, would have no problem with it. The solution, if it comes, will have to be multifaceted, and technology will only be a part of it - albeit an important one. Attempting to educate people in countries where demand is high for Rhino horn is obviously essential too, but I doubt it will ever be possible to remove demand entirely, so preventing the killing of animals in the first place has to be the no. 1 priority.

And it's clear that present methods simply aren't working, so it's encouraging to see that new approaches are being tried.

recedite

Jayzesake wrote: »

Capercaillie's point about having to periodically anaesthetise animals, and the risks of death and other negative effects that brings, is a good one. Fitting any kind of monitors directly to the rhino obviously involves taking that risk.

Right, but if the devices could be hidden, maybe as small ear tags or implants, than only a few animals need be tagged. The deterrent effect would be for all animals. Like the way hidden or mobile speed traps work better on the roads here than visible fixed ones.

Jayzesake

recedite wrote: »

Right, but if the devices could be hidden, maybe as small ear tags or implants, than only a few animals need be tagged. The deterrent effect would be for all animals. Like the way hidden or mobile speed traps work better on the roads here than visible fixed ones.

Fair point, although to create a really efffective deterrent it may be necessary for the poachers to think they'll almost certainly get caught, rather than just that they might be if they're very unlucky.

The perspective of a poor African guy trying desperately to feed his family is quite a bit different from a driver on an Irish road: he stands to make a relative fortune by shooting a Rhino, even if it is small beans by comparison with what it will eventually sell for in Vietnam or wherever. Also, the judicial system is often very corrupt in many African countries, so even if caught he may well get off scot-free, or very lightly. So it may not be worth risking the Rhino through anaesthetising for a deterrent that is only so-so.

One of the beauties of drones seems to be that they can be used to monitor a wide variety of dangers to the ecological health of an area, such as illegal hunting for bushmeat, logging, mining, farming etc. They also seem to be very cost-effective. I'm sure it won't be a silver bullet, as nothing ever is, but it looks like it might well be an extremely useful tool in wildlife conservation.

Here's an interesting talk on the subject:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lian_pin_koh_a_drone_s_eye_view_of_conservation?language=en

Birdnuts

Jayzesake wrote: »

The situation is so dire that the relocation of some Rhino populations out of Africa, possibly to Texas, is also being considered:

http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/may/11/poaching-white-rhino-south-africa-texas-rhinoceros

Talk of moving them to Australia too. Indeed the vast empty savannahs of places like Van Arnheim land(original Aussie mega fauna died out over 10K BP) could host any number of African Mega fauna from Elephants to Lions, if the worst came to the worst.

Jayzesake

Jayzesake wrote: »

The situation is so dire that the relocation of some Rhino populations out of Africa, possibly to Texas, is also being considered:

http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/may/11/poaching-white-rhino-south-africa-texas-rhinoceros

Birdnuts wrote: »

Talk of moving them to Australia too. Indeed the vast empty savannahs of places like Van Arnheim land(original Aussie mega fauna died out over 10K BP) could host any number of African Mega fauna from Elephants to Lions, if the worst came to the worst.

Then there are those who would like to bring such African megafauna to the American continent as surrogates for similar species extincted there by newly arrived human hunters during the Pleistocene, about 15,000 years ago. It's a pretty controversial idea, but it does have some fairly sound ecological reasoning behind it.