Many rhino-carrying reserves in South Africa, particularly the Eastern Cape, have partnered with Rouxcel Technology, a conservation company specializing in the design and deployment of rhino collars which detect and transmit abnormal rhino behavior in real-time. The system consists of two main components, namely the AI-Enabled Rhino Collars and a private LoRa Network.

The Rouxcel collars are solar powered and can last many years without any maintenance, compared to regular collars which require replacement at least every two years. The collars communicate through a private LoRa-Rhino network which is simple to install and maintain. The base station is a small box with built-in antennas, a solar panel and batteries – no additional solar panels or heavy batteries are required. These base stations communicate to the EarthRanger platform via a cellular network.

The rhino collar design includes smart algorithms which continuously monitor the rhino’s individual behavior. If an abnormal behavior is detected, the collar sends an alert via the LoRa-Rhino network to the EarthRanger platform, pinpointing the incident location via GPS. Alert categories are grey, amber, or red based on the event probability, or level of deviation from the individual rhino’s baseline behavior.

For example, grey alerts are triggered by rhinos fighting or chasing each other (giving the ecological team the opportunity to respond quicker to treat injuries). Amber alerts are triggered by rhinos giving birth (allowing management teams to gather more accurate population information and intercalving records).Red alerts are most likely triggered when an animal is severely injured or has died from either natural causes or a poaching event. This enables the effective, real-time investigation of possible poaching incidents.

To read the full article by Department of Forestry, Fisheries & The Environment, please click the button below: