In 2014, the Kenya Wildlife Society announced it will employ the use of drones to fight poaching in Kenya. Poaching levels in the recent past have grown in alarming numbers with the society grappling how to deal with the same. The surveillance drones were meant to supplement efforts of aircraft by first tracking endangered animals including rhinos and elephants. They would also identify poachers and relay the same information to KWS rangers who would then take measures to wade them off. Other raft of technologies employed by the KWS to curb poaching include use of GPS collars, microchips embedded in the animal horns and tusks.
There is now a new solution in the form of a smartphone application, that seeks to boost the surveillance efforts. The app referred to ass Fulcrum will identify, track and destroy poacher networks. The app will then rely this information to the authorities who will take the necessary action. Fulcrum’s technology has been employed in businesses and cities to collect forms and field data. The technology has also been used in counter-terrorism efforts. Implementation will take place where KWS rangers and patrol men will use smartphones with Fulcrum installed. As they look for poacher, the geospatial technology will plot observations on a real-time map. The reports generated from the same will then be assembled, analyzed and shared with the information shared with the authorities. The project is being undertaken under TenBoma intitiave, a project of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Kenya Wildlife Service.
