Spy cameras and alarms to be fitted in Rhino’s horns: An end to poaching?

According to statistics, rhinos could be hunted to extinction by 2035 with the dramatic surge in rhino poaching which has increased 9,000 fold since 2007 in South Africa alone. That simply means in less than 20 years, a picture is all we would have to show the younger generation of what a rhino looks like!

Data published by South African Department of Environmental Affairs (2015)

The increase in rhino poaching is being fueled by demand from Asian medicine markets, where it is grounded into fine powder or manufactured into tablets as treatment for a variety of illnesses such as stroke, convulsion, fever etc. There is however no scientific proof of its medicinal value.
A British innovation called RAPID-Real time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device could be the long awaited solution we have been waiting for. This system is made up of a camera, a heart-rate monitor linked to an alarm and a satellite-tracking device to enable the authorities to scramble a helicopter as soon as a rhino is killed. The camera in the animal’s horn would then be used to provide evidence against the poachers.

A Rhino's horn fitted with a 'spy'camera

 Dr Paul O’Donoghue of Chester University explains how the device would work. He said, “We had to find a way to protect these animals effectively in the field – the killing has to be stopped. With this device, the heart-rate monitor triggers the alarm the instant a poaching event occurs, pin-pointing the location within a few metres so that rangers can be on the scene via helicopter or truck within minutes, leaving poachers no time to harvest the valuable parts of an animal or make good an escape. You can’t outrun a helicopter. RAPID renders poaching a pointless exercise.”
The system is to be adapted for both elephants and tigers too.

Dr Paul O’Donoghue with a sedated rhino