Smart tech to protect wild animals - 17th March 2023

In Africa's parks, poaching - killing wild animals - is a serious issue. Now a smart camera system has brought new hope. It's designed by Dutch company 'Hack the Planet'.

Engineer Thijs Suijten explains how the system of smart cameras, minicomputers and artificial intelligence warns park rangers immediately.

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."

With the normal camera system, the information arrives too late. Currently, rangers have to go to the hidden cameras every six months to change the batteries. That's when they download the photographic information.

In 2021, eight modern smart cameras were brought to Gabon, where elephants were causing enormous problems for land owners.

Thijs Suijten: "It's where elephants more and more break into plantations of local farmers and [are] 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."

Once the system recognises an elephant, loud noises come from speakers which frighten away the wild animals.

These smart cameras, which use solar power, aren't the only weapon in the fight against poaching. A new mobile phone sensor has been designed by Hack the Planet. It works by finding SIM cards in mobile phones. In the parks, this often means poachers are close by.

After testing the sensors in the Netherlands, Gabon and Slovenia, the equipment's now being used to save animals in danger.