The news is full of stories about governments using
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to spy on citizens or kill terrorists or just alleged terrorists. Increasingly a beneficial use for drones has been found: protecting wildlife from destruction by man. The little planes, some small enough to be launched by hand, are being deployed around the globe in the fight against organized gangs decimating wildlife for their horns, hides and bones. The poachers are armed with automatic weapons and are not afraid to take on outgunned rangers because the prices paid by ignorant people for wildlife parts is relatively enormous. The wildlife black market in Asia is estimated at $10 billion. UAVs might help even the odds against the criminal cartels. Drones can cover large swaths of wild territory and pinpoint criminal activity because gunshots may no longer be an indication of poaching in progress. Killers have sometimes resorted to tranquilizer guns to immobilize their victims and then hack off tusks and horns with machetes while the animal is still alive. The pictures of brutally slaughtered animals are simply too nauseating to post.
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| credit: Ithaca College/Thompson |
All of Africa is under assault from these merciless criminals supplying the mostly Asian market. Even the remotest sanctuaries are not free of their depredations. Dzanga Bai, a remote clearing in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, is where two hundred forest elephants gather to bath and drink the mineral water
[photo]. They have grown accustom to human visitors peacefully watching them. Until Sudanese criminals penetrated to the clearing, climbed the viewing tower and mowed down 26 elephants before help could arrive. Governments have been very slow to react to the reality that wildlife trafficking is financing civil unrest. Even when they do recognize the problem, they often lack the resources to do anything about it. Wildlife rangers are underpaid and under- equipped. The job was once primarily protecting humans from animals, now it is becoming increasingly more dangerous as desperadoes of all sorts resort to wild areas for protection, food, and money. Rangers are in the front lines. Advanced nations, which are the end markets for the body parts, must help poor countries protect their natural heritage.
The UK has sent paratroopers to Kenya to train rangers so they can better protect Kenya's elephants. The United States' federal government has
recently pledged to increase its financial support of wildlife protection. UAVs are part of this increased support. Namibia has a lot of rhinos left, so it plans to deploy drones with night sensors to stem the tide of poaching across the border that is devastating South Africa's rhinos. Between 2006 and 2012 Namibia lost only five rhinos, South Africa lost 1,805. Namibia, because of its emphasis of local involvement in conservation, is literally sitting on top of a horn gold mine. Ruthless poachers will be sure to follow.
The UAVs are an quantum improvement over collars and tags. They are less invasive for the animals humans are trying to protect. Drones can inexpensively stay aloft for hours to monitor favorite trials, foraging areas and water holes that are hot spots for poaching. Poachers tend to strike at night in the light of a full moon. Finding them before they kill is difficult. The technology allows rangers to get a jump on the enemy and intercept them before the slaughter is over and all that is left at the scene are rotting bodies and tire tracks into the bush. But no gadget alone will make Africa's dwindling wildlife safe until the criminal bosses at the top of the supply chain are caught and imprisoned or superstitious and greedy people stop buying animal remains.
