GPS Tracking Devices and Spy-Cams Aim to Curtail Rhino Poaching
12 Nov 2015Researchers try to reduce rhino poaching by placing GPS tracking devices in their horns.
Poaching is not a new concept, but unfortunately the incidents are still occurring. Researchers want to try and reduce how often this happens by tracking animals that might be a target.
In South Africa, this includes the black rhinos. In 2015 alone, 749 black and white rhinos have lost their lives due to poaching. While it is less than the record-breaking 1,215 in 2014, it is not enough a decline. Since they are often poached for their horns, that is exactly where the tracking devices are being implanted. They are also using other technology to help track down the poachers, including spy cameras and heart rate monitors.
This new tracking project is being led by We Are Protect, a wildlife conservation group out of South Africa. The group is using what they call Real-Time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Devices (RAPID) to not only track the animals themselves, but the horns as well.
When a wild black rhino is caught humanely by the conservation group, they use a simple operation to implant the small tracking devices into their horns. This does not cause pain as their horns are made of keratin, similar to a human’s fingernails. Once the devices are programmed and inserted, all data is sent to a centralized control center where researchers can track the data live.
There is a heart rate monitor attached to the camera and tracking device. All three devices work in sync. So if a rhino is in danger, its heart rate usually rises or declines. When this happens, it triggers the small camera to turn on and view what is going on. This can also trigger the GPS tracking device. They hope that with the heart rate monitor and camera, they will be able to capture the poachers before harm is done to the animal. If not, they at least can track them down with the GPS tracker in the horns.
The question now is whether or not they will make it known that the project has begun and rhinos are being tracked. On the one hand, the research team hopes that a warning would cause poachers to think twice as they could get caught. However, they also worry that these poachers would simply find animals that are not tracked or other wild animals in general. To avoid this problem, they would like to track as many rhinos as they possibly can so the untagged rhinos don’t become a target.
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