The Path to Zero Poaching
How FLIR and the WWF Are Working Together to Protect Wildlife in Kenya
By Jo Fischer
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and FLIR, partners for nearly ten years in efforts to eliminate African wildlife poaching, are once again working together to support the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) and Kenyan conservancies such as Ol Pejeta Conservancy in improving wildlife security.
Their most recent efforts include the donation of 13 truck-mounted thermal security cameras for nighttime patrols that can help catch poachers in the dark.
The partnership began after WWF received a 2015 grant to identify anti-poaching technology that could have an impact on conservation.
After rigorous testing, thermal imaging came out on top—beating radar and night vision products—due to its ability to identify targets even within dense vegetation.
FLIR soon became a close ally with WWF and the KWS through the Kifaru Rising Project and additional technology donations.
Prior to the thermal camera donations, rangers could only track poachers by employing K9 units, using flashlights, and laying ambushes to catch them in the act.
While these methods had some success, the size of the area the rangers had to patrol was insufficient to effectively stop most poaching and when poachers were engaged the interaction was chaotic and dangerous in the near total darkness.
Thermal imaging security cameras resolved many of the difficulties of night-time patrols for the rangers since their introduction.
The rangers can now cover 7 square kilometers per camera with just a small team, freeing up personnel to cover additional areas.
“Thermal imaging has been a game changer for most of the rangers that we’ve talked to,” says FLIR Global Solutions Architect and Program Manager Shawn Jepson. “It doesn’t take long at all once they start using it for them to see the value. They use it every night in their patrols because with the thermal cameras they can see at night whereas normally the darkness makes their job a lot harder.”
The fact that the high-powered cameras are mounted on trucks also grants the rangers mobility that they wouldn’t have with stationary watch towers. These mobile thermal security trucks give rangers the freedom to choose new areas and angles to cover whenever necessary. Mobility also provides the team with an element of surprise to keep poachers unsure of where surveillance will be at any time.
The efforts of FLIR, WWF, KWS, and conservancy rangers with enhanced thermal security is helping Kenya’s wildlife guardians on their goal of zero poaching.