際際滷s from Dronetech's Environmental Meetup as part of Big Green Week in Bristol, June 2016. Speakers include Jax Metcalfe of Poaching Prevent & Conservation Scientist and Drone Pilot, Mat Bjerregaard of Visual Persistance
16. Poachers kill between 30, 000 & 40,000 elephants each year / more than 1 every 15
minutes
In 2012 the poaching rate was 7.4%
Population growth rate for African elephants is estimated at
5%
17. At the beginning of the 20th century there were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia
Now there are fewer than 29,000
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
early 1900s 1970 today
Poaching caused Africas black rhino populations to
decline by an estimated 97.6% between 1960 and
1995
1,338 rhinos were poached for their horns in Africa
last year; 1,175 of which were killed in South Africa
Currently more than 3 rhinos a day are poached
in
South Africa alone
Since 2007 rhino poaching in South Africa increased
by almost 9,000%
18. 1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
01998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
South Africa is home to more than 80% of the worlds rhinos
Recorded number of rhinos poached in South Africa
Year
19. Why poaching is so prevalent
Demand
贈14 billion per year pangolin scales - 贈415 per kg
ivory - 贈775 per kg rhino horn - 贈42,000 p/kg
High profit / low-risk
20. IMPLICATIONS
Loss of ecosystem
services vegetation, nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and germination
firebreaks
hydrology
Economics
Wildlife tourism, employment
Poaching of flagship species robs states and communities of their natural assets
Undermines sustainable economic development, and has serious economic and social consequences that
threaten the livelihoods of communities dependent on wildlife tourism and natural resource
Terrorism & criminal organisations
Feeds in to well known terrorist organisations and organised crime
Annual income from ivory to militias, operating in the entire Sub-Saharan region, 贈 3.08 million
21. The human cost
More than 1,000 rangers killed worldwide &
many
more injured over the last 10 years [source] IUCN
Poachers also loose their lives during incursions with
rangers
improvised gun
24. Prof Thomas Snitch
Predict the locations of IED weapon caches in Iraq and Afghanistan, with over 93% accuracy
Same pattern recognition applied to poaching
Supercomputer-based capability, APE, recognises behavioural patterns in the movement of poachers
and rhinos which it uses, along with topographic and seasonal data etc., to predict rhino location & the
poachers point of entry into the protected area during the threat window
The Anti-Poaching Engine (APE) generates precise flight paths for UAVs in coordination with on-
ground ranger patrols
25. The software predicts, one day in advance, where the animals will be and where the
poachers are likely to strike.
Based on those findings, recommendations on where to position the rangers are
produced, along with flight plans for UAVs; these are then encrypted and sent directly
to the anti-poaching team in the field
Anti-Poaching Engine (APE)
How it Works
1. Predictive Analysis
26. Rangers are prepositioned
where they can quickly
cover all ingress and
egress to the threat areas
The mobile ground control is driven
as close to the threat area as
possible
UAVs equipped with RGB & FLIR FPV
zooming cameras are launched
Everything seen by the cameras is
transmitted back to the ground
control system in real time
UAV Mission Profile
UAVs are flown constantly during the threat
window, with batteries rapidly swapped out
and aircraft relaunched to assure solid
coverage
Autopilots allow the UAVs to patrol a pre-
programmed route, diverting only when
anomalies are identified.
2. Prepositioned Rangers 3. Position Ground Control 4. Fly UAVs
27. When a potential poacher is spotted,
UAV operators radio their exact
position and direction of travel to
nearby rangers who intercept and
capture them
A complete record of everything collected by the
UAVs
is stored for future analysis.
After the mission is complete, data including animal
sightings, weather conditions, poacher engagements,
etc. are sent back to the analytical team to be
integrated into the main database for the area.
This additional data helps the heuristic Anti-Poaching
Engine to become even more accurate over time.
5. Vector Rangers 6. Data Input
28. We will enable NPs, reserves, conservancies & partner NGOs to utilise
our
anti-poaching solutions package free of charge
UAVs with accompanying GPS, surveillance equipment & laptop etc.
Specialist training & support
Access to/output from the APE predictive analytical model
30. Want to find out more?
Environmental #dronechat: Tues 21 Jun, 5-6pm
@dronetechevents
More from Mat & Jax at #DTE17 10-12 May 2017
dronetecheurope.com
Or get in touch: gemma@whisper.media