

Using drones and big data to stop poaching - adamnemecek
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/air-shepherd-drones-stop-elephant-rhino-poaching/?

======
zk00006
There are two key problems I am aware of. First, some countries such as South
Africa banns UAVs so it is in fact illegal to deploy such systems. This was
the key problem for the "Rhino challenge" from the last year. Second, it is
much easier for the poachers to find rhinos/elephants using UAVs as opposed to
use UAVs to protect them.

~~~
zamalek
> some countries such as South Africa bans UAVs

This might have changed since that competition: I've recently been seeing
quadcopters in stores.

A close-by area is protected by threat of death: poachers can be shot on sight
by, effectively, mercenaries. I'm not sure how this was legally achieved but
after one actually got shot[1] poaching activity has somewhat died down.

[1]:
[http://thebeat.linmedia.co.za/articles/crime/26415/2014-08-2...](http://thebeat.linmedia.co.za/articles/crime/26415/2014-08-22/poachers-
caught-in-vaalwater)

------
endymi0n
Reading the title, I had some interesting head cinema imagining drones from
stopping recruiters entering cafés close to Facebook, Apple and Google and
poaching employees...

~~~
S4M
Yeah, I thought someone used drones to stalk his/her employees and prevent
them from being approach by recruiters. Boy that sounded creepy, I think the
title should be changed to the article's one: "Air Shepherd Drones Stop
Elephant & Rhino Poaching"

------
jetskindo
Poaching is illegal. But owning elephant tusks isn't . In fact it is
considered a luxury.

~~~
sschueller
I don't think making ivory illegal would fix the Problem. It would increase
the value of ivory even more and make poaching more profitable.

The only real solution I see is the mass production of a synthetic that can't
be identified from real ivory. This would make ivory so cheap that poaching no
longer is profitable enough.

~~~
sseveran
Fakes don't work for luxury items. Wealthy people still prefer mined diamonds
to their synthetic counterparts. The whole point of buying a real one is to
demonstrate your wealth.

~~~
Lawtonfogle
Which is determined by rarity. Reducing supply will increase the rarity and
thus increase the status from owning ivory. This results in those using it as
a status symbol having even greater desire.

------
fixxer
I wonder how much rhino/elephant tusk powder sold is actually from the said
animal. Seems like a really tough thing to authenticate and an excellent
return for the counterfeiter.

~~~
giarc
So make it so that every corner store in China has "Authentic Rhino Horn". No
one can tell the difference between the real and the fake stuff, discourages
buyers from buying, market dries up.

~~~
fixxer
They'd never know.

~~~
giarc
I'm not a vet, but I don't imagine ivory contains any DNA so therefore
customers couldn't test it for proper rhino/elephant DNA. Would be able to
test it with something like MALDI-TOF to properly identify it, but that is not
easily accessible outside of academia.

~~~
matthewmarkus
You can get DNA from Ivory.

[http://www.pnas.org/content/104/10/4228.full](http://www.pnas.org/content/104/10/4228.full)

Bioengineering wildlife products is something my start-up, Pembient, has been
working on for a while now.

~~~
giarc
Interesting, are the tusks vascularized or is the DNA material coming from the
interface between tusk and growth center? If the later, could poaches
therefore prevent tracking with proper cleaning and preparation of the tusks?

Checked out Pembient, very cool idea and I hope you succeed. Also subscribed
to newsletter.

~~~
matthewmarkus
Thanks! Tusks are similar to teeth, so there is a nerve root, etc.

[https://www.thedodo.com/community/Elegirl/the-truth-about-
tu...](https://www.thedodo.com/community/Elegirl/the-truth-about-
tusks-648225506.html)

Taking just the tip of a tusk might be the best option for evading a DNA test.

------
geekam
Vice did a piece on Rhino poaching :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zEiDeAqiE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zEiDeAqiE)

------
thirdtruck
What does it say about the IT industry that I first thought that the title
referred to poaching employees?

------
valdiorn
Great idea until someone realizes that if this can be used to track rhinos, it
can also be used to track humans.

