South African National Parks (SANParks) has enlisted the help of technology research agency the CSIR to fight rhino and perlemoen poachers, it was announced on Sunday.
The Kruger National Park would be the initial focus of their five-year strategic technology partnership, CSIR spokesman Tendani Tsedu said in a statement.
The country’s parks faced a battle and needed to respond deftly and with best means they had, said SANParks special projects commanding officer Johan Jooste.
“We are therefore taking a long-term strategic view on increasing the effectiveness of environmental asset protection interventions at our parks throughout the country,” he said.
CSIR programme manager Charl Petzer said it would help SANParks with technology evaluation and testing to identify the best technologies to use for sensing, detecting, mobility and so forth.
He said technologies to detect human movement across border zones and to detect the location of shooters within seconds were already being evaluated.
Better sensor technologies were also being looked at to add to surveillance capabilities at poaching hot spots. — Sapa
