AI combats poaching in Africa - 17th March 2023

Wildlife conservationists are generally fighting a losing battle when it comes to poaching, particularly in Africa's renowned but massive national parks. Now, however, an innovative smart camera system, the brainchild of Dutch company Hack the Planet, could shake things up.

Engineer Thijs Suijten explains the ins and outs of the system.

Thijs Suijten: "And this minicomputer downloads the images from the camera and then uses artificial intelligence to automatically classify whether there's an animal, an elephant or human on the photo. And then we use the satellite modem to send that information through space directly to the phones of rangers within minutes."

As the system functions live, it's a far cry from the current one, where park rangers download information from the cameras' memory cards only when changing the batteries every six months, on their visit to the camera traps.

A total of eight such smart gadgets were exploited in Gabon in 2021, at sites which hitherto would regularly see clashes between local smallholders and elephants.

Thijs Suijten: "It's where elephants more and more break into plantations of local farmers and destroying plantations and taking away the livelihood of local people. And there we deployed this system, eight of these cameras, to create an early warning system so that rangers and locals know elephants are approaching a village."

After the system has identified an elephant in the vicinity, the system triggers the sound of large horns to blare out through speakers, startling the approaching beasts.

The cameras are also energy-efficient as they're powered by solar panels.

And these gadgets aren't the only weapon in the armoury of Hack the Planet, as the company's also devised a cell phone sensor able to detect SIM cards close by - poachers rely on phones in remote areas to navigate and communicate.

Already successfully trialled in Slovenia, the Netherlands and Gabon, these real-time devices are now in situ, supporting the real-life struggle against poaching.