How IoT and AI are protecting wildlife from poachers

• Wildlife is on the verge of extinction; ‘poaching’ is one of the reasons for this. The stressed government is, therefore, protecting endangered wildlife with IoT and AI, with the aim to fix the issue.

By Naveen Joshi – Founder and CEO of Allerin

Works in Big Data, IoT, AI and Blockchain

Wildlife illegal activities, handled by illegitimate and strong networks, are proliferating like never imagined. The current wildlife condition indicates that our future generation might not get an opportunity to enjoy the immense beauty of Mother Earth. We know that it’s sad to mention that, but it’s true. The reasons behind illegally killing animals range from smuggling their body parts to sheer fun and adventure. Did you know, the rhino poaching was 13 in 2007, which increased to 1004 in 2013? If this statistic persists or grows, then there are chances that soon rhinos will be extinct. And this is not the case for rhinos alone. Many such incredible species are facing the risk of extinction. This fact has shaken government officials, compelling them to take strict actions against the poachers and preserve the wildlife before it gets extinct. And, the good news is – governments are already protecting endangered wildlife with IoT and AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Protecting endangered wildlife with IoT

For fixing the issue of poaching, we need the assistance of a technology that gathers information about ‘what’s happening’ in real-time. Such a report will give officials an idea on threats approaching animals. IoT is one such technology that can provide forest authorities with necessary data on the impending dangers, the location of threats, and also help control a mishap from occurring With the help of cameras and sensors, authorities can get in-depth information on the location of animals, their movements, the speed of their movement, thereby helping the animals in distress. Adverse situations will be immediately notified to forest authorities, which will help them combat a poaching activity.

Protecting endangered wildlife with AI

We know that AI can assist humans to accomplish any task if trained with the right data. AI can also help the forest security executives to combat poaching activities. The different sources of big data can give information on ‘how’ previous poaching activities took place, the strategies of poachers, and poaching routes. By training the AI system with the collected data, the technology can give suggestions on ‘how’ exactly to stop this cruel activity. The model can help the patrol team with suggestions on how to build an effective patrolling strategy, which could help protect the wildlife species. Additionally, by training the AI model by supplying data on animal’s movement, footprints, and actions, executives can obtain insights on where the endangered animals are located.

Foiling poaching has become increasingly important for protecting the endangered species. IoT and AI are paving a new way to prevent animal extinction, thereby helping the concerned authorities to curb their stress.