How Infrared and Thermal Technology is assisting with wildlife surveys and preventing poaching14/3/2018 While the use of Infrared and Thermal Technology (ITT) is not new to the conservation industry, the way it can be applied for both surveying for animals and protecting them is increasing. This is partly due to the co-operation of companies and NGO’s such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and FLIR as well as advancements in the technology of ITT itself.
As of 2016, FLIR has been working with the WWF’s Wildlife Crime and Technology Project with the aim to the prevent illegal activity within the Maasai Mara National Park by installing cutting edge ITT. The grant provided by Google.Org has allowed the WWF to fit thermal cameras to mobile units driven by rangers, as well as stationary infrared cameras throughout the park. These new additions to the conservation teams resources is helping them to become aware of poacher presence in the park as soon as the heat signature of a human is registered. The result of this collaboration has seen dozens of poachers captured and further sites and equipment (such as UAVs) have been added to the ongoing project. When we look closer to home for the application of ITTs, the obvious one stands out, camera traps, which have been used to varying degrees over the years to check for the presence/absence of wildlife (such as Badgers, Great Crested Newts, Water Voles, etc). With the help of modernised ITTs, we are able to perform new types of surveys and gather more information, such as the use of Infrared torches used in conjunction with video cameras. This helps us to review footage taken during bat emergence surveys by lighting up the area the camera and torch are focused on without being visible to the naked eye, therefore not disturbing or discouraging the bats from entering the survey area. The introduction of thermal cameras has been explored when surveying for bats, but has also been used to check for heat signatures on dormouse boxes. While current devices are not able to measure the inside temperatures of the boxes they are able to display the outside temperature. With that information we are able to establish if there is a noticeable difference between each box, this then allows us to roughly estimate the presence or absence of dormice without the need to disturb them. With new technological advancements every year, wildlife conservation is only getting more effective; lets see what the next 12 months brings.
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