Smart cameras help wild animals - 17th March 2023

In Africa's parks it's hard to look after the animals. People kill them for money. But a Dutch company - 'Hack the Planet' - has one answer. Their system uses a 'smart' camera, a computer and artificial intelligence.

Thijs Suijten: "And this minicomputer downloads the images from the camera and then uses artificial intelligence to automatically classify whether there is 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."

The old system was different. Park workers went to secret cameras every six months. They removed the information. But it was always too late.

Parks used eight smart cameras in Gabon, Africa, in 2021. There, the problem was between elephants and farmers.

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."

The system can see there's an elephant. Immediately, the system makes a loud noise. The animals are afraid. They run away.

The smart cameras are just one answer. Hack the Planet built a mobile phone sensor too. This sensor can sense SIM cards in phones. The animal killers carry mobile phones.

The company tested these sensors in different countries. Now the parks are using them to help.