Flickr photo courtesy of abcode.

A story in the Economist describes how ubiquitous computing technology is being used to assist conservationists and rangers in stopping poaching of elephants.

The value of meat from elephants, apes and other animals has also risen as loggers and miners move deeper into the country’s forests. Nor is this a problem confined to Congo. Last year, poachers are estimated to have killed more than 23,000 African elephants. According to a study by the University of Washington, that is about one in seventeen of the continent’s total.

Through the use of metal detectors on trails frequented by elephants that operate on a friend or foe system or adding fire detectors into the trees (poachers like to smoke their meat before transportation), they hope to benefit the conservation effort.

These technologies may also have value outside of forestry areas.

In savannahs, for example, traffic moves toward or away from watering holes—and brush, sand and slopes keep most vehicles on tracks. The Galapagos Islands, a prime target for unlicensed hunting, has few practicable landing spots for boats and passages through the volcanic-rock landscape. Given that animals have established breeding grounds, this dictates poachers’ movements, according to James Gibbs, who works at SUNY’s environmental-science department. He is testing a metal-detector-and-satellite system at a place on Isabela, the largest of the islands, where giant tortoises gather.

Relevance: After hearing about the deaths of rangers in Kenya this week after engaging in a firefight with poachers, I realise that the protection of wildlife is not an easy task. I wonder if there is technology that could better protect the rangers once they respond to these incidents especially as they may be out-gunned.

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