Drones similar to those used against terrorists are to be used to help save Africa's last White Rhinos from poachers.
They are among the last seven of their kind in the world - and for the past
three years, the four northern white rhinos that roam in the shadow of Mount
Kenya, Africa's second-highest mountain, have each had their own
round-the-clock armed guard to keep them safe.
As the most highly endangered sub-species of white rhino, they are the most
precious of the 110 rhinos of all kinds that live within Kenya's Ol
Pejeta Conservancy, a privately owned reserve where the animals roam
over 90,000 acres between flat-topped acacia trees and tall savannah
grasses.
But all the animals are under constant threat from poachers who are hunting
rhinos across Africa with increasing ferocity for their valuable horns - a
fact highlighted last week by the Duke of Cambridge, who has called for
urgent action to stop the killing.
Photo: Ian Aitken www.aitkenimages.co.uk
Now a new weapon is to be added to the arsenal used to fend off the rhino
poachers: remotely-piloted surveillance drones which will track the animals'
whereabouts across the Ol Pejeta reserve, and give rapid warning of unwanted
human encroachment, even at night.
Commercial aerial drones - similar to those used by the military in Afghanistan and elsewhere to identify terrorist targets, but smaller and unarmed - are being adapted to deploy high resolution cameras and infra-red thermal imaging for night operations over the reserve, monitoring the locations of the endangered rhinos.
The expectation is that in a single flight the electric-powered drones will be able to cover 10,000 acres, far more effectively than a team of staff on the ground, and enable armed wardens to be dispatched rapidly to the right place if an animal is at risk.
"It's really difficult to fully track animals or poachers across such a huge area even with 160 rangers – it's like finding a needle in a haystack," said Rob Breare, who works on strategy and innovation for the conservancy.
"We believe that a drone will be a significant deterrent to poachers, but it will also enable us to quickly send a highly-trained response team to an identified location if it reveals a threat."
All Africa's rhino population is under threat from the recent upsurge in poaching, which has been fuelled by growing demand for the rhinos' horns, a valued ingredient in some traditional Asian medicines as well as a prized material for ornamental use, particularly in certain Gulf states as dagger handles.
Some 633 were killed in South Africa alone last year, according to figures released last month, and the number of elephants similarly killed for their tusks was put at more than 3,000. A single horn can typically fetch $12,000, a small fortune in Kenya where many earn less than a dollar a day, and is worth far more by the time it reaches Asia.
Driven by rising demand in Asia – with increasingly prosperous China seen as the biggest consumer – combined with weak law enforcement in conflict-ridden countries like the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the slaughter is reaching levels that were last seen in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned.
"The resurgence of poaching is a tragedy and one of the biggest reasons is that we're now talking about our last herds," William Kimosop, chief warden at a reserve in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Whereas poaching might have once been about subsistence, now there is a commercial chain right from the killing fields to the ports of entry abroad," he added. "It's the responsibility of everyone here in Africa to protect our wildlife."
There were just 20,000 white rhinos remaining in the wild in 2011, almost all of them the southern variety, according to the most recent estimate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There were also a further 4,200 black rhinos, a slightly smaller and more aggressive species that has adapted to browse for leaves from trees and bushes, rather than grazing in grassland.
Those in Ol Pejeta include 11 southern whites and the four northern whites - two males and two females, which were returned to the wild in 2009 after being flown to Africa from a zoo in the Czech Republic.
Most of its inhabitants are black rhinos. It lost five rhinos to poachers in 2011, and has worked hard to ensure no more have been lost since then. On the neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Sanctuary, where the Duke of Cambridge has been a regular visitor since he spent time working there during his gap year, four adult rhinos and a four-year-old calf were found shot dead last month - leading a spokesman for Prince William to declare last week that he was concerned "to stem the tide before it is too late and these magnificent creatures become lost to the wild for ever".
"There's been a massive surge in poaching in the surrounding area over last six months – it's now nearly out of control," said Batian Craig, security adviser at Ol Pejeta. "If you relax for a moment then an incident could happen any time.
"It's gone from individual poachers to well-organised crime syndicates. The threat we're facing here in Kenya is massive."
The drones, described by staff as "Aerial Rangers", each of which will cost $50,000, have wingspans of around 10 feet, weigh 10lbs and can be launched by a simple catapult. They will stream live images back to base using an on-board GPS system to pinpoint the exact locations involved.
The reserve may also attach radio transmitters to each rhino so that the drone can identify and observe particular animals.
Staff hope that the drones will greatly enhance the effectiveness of other measures taken in recent years - including the granting of "police reservist" status last year which allows some of Ol Pejeta's security personnel to carry automatic weapons and make arrests.
A helicopter and assault dogs also support the security team. "The government has recognised the threat and is giving us a great deal of support," said Mr Craig. "We have capacity now that we just didn't have before."
Ol Pejeta is currently fundraising for its first Aerial Ranger using the website Indiegogo and is offering donors 15 minutes of remote drone operation as an incentive - or the possibility of a luxury safari. The team hopes to have the first of several drones in the sky by March, before expanding the fleet to neighbouring reserves - including the Lewa sanctuary.
Best of all, they believe the drones will be almost impossible for the poachers to outwit. "Not only will drones provide better surveillance of remote areas, but they will be difficult for poaching gangs to target," said Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta.
"Eventually we feel that drones will assist conservationists to provide the sophisticated range of deterrents needed to protect wildlife not just across Africa but in many other parts of the world."
Commercial aerial drones - similar to those used by the military in Afghanistan and elsewhere to identify terrorist targets, but smaller and unarmed - are being adapted to deploy high resolution cameras and infra-red thermal imaging for night operations over the reserve, monitoring the locations of the endangered rhinos.
The expectation is that in a single flight the electric-powered drones will be able to cover 10,000 acres, far more effectively than a team of staff on the ground, and enable armed wardens to be dispatched rapidly to the right place if an animal is at risk.
"It's really difficult to fully track animals or poachers across such a huge area even with 160 rangers – it's like finding a needle in a haystack," said Rob Breare, who works on strategy and innovation for the conservancy.
"We believe that a drone will be a significant deterrent to poachers, but it will also enable us to quickly send a highly-trained response team to an identified location if it reveals a threat."
All Africa's rhino population is under threat from the recent upsurge in poaching, which has been fuelled by growing demand for the rhinos' horns, a valued ingredient in some traditional Asian medicines as well as a prized material for ornamental use, particularly in certain Gulf states as dagger handles.
Some 633 were killed in South Africa alone last year, according to figures released last month, and the number of elephants similarly killed for their tusks was put at more than 3,000. A single horn can typically fetch $12,000, a small fortune in Kenya where many earn less than a dollar a day, and is worth far more by the time it reaches Asia.
Driven by rising demand in Asia – with increasingly prosperous China seen as the biggest consumer – combined with weak law enforcement in conflict-ridden countries like the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the slaughter is reaching levels that were last seen in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned.
"The resurgence of poaching is a tragedy and one of the biggest reasons is that we're now talking about our last herds," William Kimosop, chief warden at a reserve in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Whereas poaching might have once been about subsistence, now there is a commercial chain right from the killing fields to the ports of entry abroad," he added. "It's the responsibility of everyone here in Africa to protect our wildlife."
There were just 20,000 white rhinos remaining in the wild in 2011, almost all of them the southern variety, according to the most recent estimate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There were also a further 4,200 black rhinos, a slightly smaller and more aggressive species that has adapted to browse for leaves from trees and bushes, rather than grazing in grassland.
Those in Ol Pejeta include 11 southern whites and the four northern whites - two males and two females, which were returned to the wild in 2009 after being flown to Africa from a zoo in the Czech Republic.
Most of its inhabitants are black rhinos. It lost five rhinos to poachers in 2011, and has worked hard to ensure no more have been lost since then. On the neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Sanctuary, where the Duke of Cambridge has been a regular visitor since he spent time working there during his gap year, four adult rhinos and a four-year-old calf were found shot dead last month - leading a spokesman for Prince William to declare last week that he was concerned "to stem the tide before it is too late and these magnificent creatures become lost to the wild for ever".
"There's been a massive surge in poaching in the surrounding area over last six months – it's now nearly out of control," said Batian Craig, security adviser at Ol Pejeta. "If you relax for a moment then an incident could happen any time.
"It's gone from individual poachers to well-organised crime syndicates. The threat we're facing here in Kenya is massive."
The drones, described by staff as "Aerial Rangers", each of which will cost $50,000, have wingspans of around 10 feet, weigh 10lbs and can be launched by a simple catapult. They will stream live images back to base using an on-board GPS system to pinpoint the exact locations involved.
The reserve may also attach radio transmitters to each rhino so that the drone can identify and observe particular animals.
Staff hope that the drones will greatly enhance the effectiveness of other measures taken in recent years - including the granting of "police reservist" status last year which allows some of Ol Pejeta's security personnel to carry automatic weapons and make arrests.
A helicopter and assault dogs also support the security team. "The government has recognised the threat and is giving us a great deal of support," said Mr Craig. "We have capacity now that we just didn't have before."
Ol Pejeta is currently fundraising for its first Aerial Ranger using the website Indiegogo and is offering donors 15 minutes of remote drone operation as an incentive - or the possibility of a luxury safari. The team hopes to have the first of several drones in the sky by March, before expanding the fleet to neighbouring reserves - including the Lewa sanctuary.
Best of all, they believe the drones will be almost impossible for the poachers to outwit. "Not only will drones provide better surveillance of remote areas, but they will be difficult for poaching gangs to target," said Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta.
"Eventually we feel that drones will assist conservationists to provide the sophisticated range of deterrents needed to protect wildlife not just across Africa but in many other parts of the world."
