Remotely piloted aircraft systems as a rhinoceros anti-poaching tool in Africa.

ABSTRACT: Over the last years there has been a massive increase in rhinoceros poaching incidents, with more than two individuals killed per day in South Africa in the first months of 2013. Immediate actions are needed to preserve current populations and the agents involved in their protection are demanding new technologies to increase their efficiency in the field. We assessed the use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to monitor for poaching activities. We performed 20 flights with 3 types of cameras: visual photo, HD video and thermal video, to test the ability of the systems to detect (a) rhinoceros, (b) people acting as poachers and (c) to do fence surveillance. The study area consisted of several large game farms in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The targets were better detected

SUBMITTER: Mulero-Pazmany M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3885534 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature