New Approaches to Combatting Poaching in Africa: The Use of Satellite Imagery and UAVs to Level the Playing Field
- Paper number
IAC-13,E5,3,4,x16488
- Author
Dr. Thomas Snitch, Little Falls Associates, Inc., United States
- Year
2013
- Abstract
Existing methods to combat the poaching of rhinos, elephants and tigers are failing as the number of these animals being killed is growing in near exponential terms. Advanced technology can be used to level the playing field and combat the poachers. With very high resolution satellite imagery, advanced mathemetical modeling and UAVs, patterns of poaching activty can be mapped and anticipated. Armed with maps from the satellite imagery and sophisticated modeling, UAVs with night vision capability can be programmed to identify and eliminate poachers before they can reach their targets. Based on experience in Iraq and Afghanistan gained in tracking IED bombers, this paper will apply this expertise to situations involving rhinos in South Africa, elephants in Kenya, and tigers in Indonesia. Specific cases of actual use of the imagery and UAVs in anti-poaching cases will be demonstrated at the IAC
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)