Detecting poachers in the lands of leopards

Leopards along borders
Leopards along borders
June 3, 2017
Eco-trips give locals a feel for the leopards
Eco-trips give locals a feel for the leopards
June 15, 2017

Detecting poachers in the lands of leopards

Poacher

Poaching poses a serious threat to wildlife and is most of the time hard to witness. Poachers carefully monitor ranger activities, gathering information on patrol activities in different areas. This allows them to identify the most vulnerable locations and times for different species. In many cases, understaffed and under-equipped rangers have to make a stand against poachers who are far better equipped. Future4Leopards Foundation aims to assist rangers in enhancing their anti-poaching performance through provision of equipment, proper infrastructures and, more recently, hidden camera traps. We are now donating camera traps to rangers within our pilot sites, the goal being twofold: monitoring poacher activity and studying wildlife, including leopards. Our trial project to detect poachers using camera traps has proven to work well. So far, we have detected at least 4 different gangs of poachers in Tandoureh and Dohezar-Sehezar. This was thanks to camera traps we donated to these areas. Currently, we are working to train local rangers to improve the deployment and management of these anti-poaching surveillance camera traps. In combination with an increase in the amount of camera traps, we are convinced this technology will be of great help in the reduction of poaching.

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