All throughout history, mankind has hunted animals for resources. Whether it be a meat for a meal, hide for clothing, or bones for weapons, humans have had to hunt animals in order to progress. Poaching, however, is an illegal form of hunting on animals that are in contravention of official protection or just plainly killing them out of hunting season. According to John Petersen who is a member of Air Shepherd, "40,000 elephants were killed by poachers last year and this number is continuing to rise". Poaching is starting to have dramatic changes to environments worldwide. According to USA Today, animals such as tigers, elephants, sea turtles, rhinos, and gorillas are all being hunted to extinction and if we do not stop soon, these animal species will cease to exist. 

So, how do we catch the poacher before he kills? The solution is simple. Drones guided by supercomputers controlled by park rangers have been recently been implemented in South Africa's Kruger National Park. There has been a major decrease in animals being poached since the drones have been implemented. Jonathan Downey, Airware's chief executive says "You hardly see or notice it," he says. "We don't want to startle the wildlife or tourists". Drones can quickly scan the area for poachers without detection during the day as well as the night with their infrared cameras. Poachers have no advantage during the day or at night because once a drone spots them, a team of rangers are sent to stop the culprit. So, with the increase of poaching over the years and the near extinction of animals such as elephants and rhinos, drones could be used to alert rangers more quickly and efficiently due to their advanced programming and new technological upgrades.  

According to BBC News, poaching is currently threatening Africa's lucrative wildlife tourism industry. In order to combat this, drones were recently implemented in Africa's Kruger National Park to protect various animal species from poaching in May of 2012. Drones have already started making a huge impact on the reduction of poachers across Africa's 90,000 acre Kruger National park. Dr. Thomas Snitch, who, with the help of his colleagues at the University of Maryland, has been researching and testing the use of drones in Africa and he states, "In the past six months where we've been operating in Africa, we've arrested a lot of poachers". Computer data is able to tell the rangers where the drones should fly in accordance to where the poachers will be sitting. Drones are now starting to be known as the 'silver bullet' that is going to end the monster of poaching. 

Drones as a tool for anti-poaching have a variety of capabilities according to John Petersen, chairman of the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, have the "potential to shut down poaching entirely in areas where they are deployed." Since the implementation in 2012, we have seen a 40% decrease in poaching according to Airware. Drones make it easier to end poaching because they are small, versatile, and most importantly, they are an eye in the sky. The main advantage is that they aren't a large helicopter. Poachers are able to hear a helicopter more than a small drone. 

People will ask, why are others poaching if animals such as elephants and rhinos going near extinction? With the price of ivory over just 250,000 dollars for a large horn of either elephant or rhino, people can see why poaching is so highly considered. Poaching is done for the profit of the hunter. If one catches a small herd of either elephant or rhino, that person may have over a few million dollars in ivory. An extraordinary solution is going to have to be implemented to end poaching. The use of dogs, helicopters, and satellite imagery have been used and considered, but we have seen that drones have the best effect to end poaching for good. If the animals can't see or hear the drones, how will the poachers? 

So why is this ivory or other animalistic materials worth more than gold? According to the African Wildlife Foundation, Rhinos are killed because their horns are believed to cure hangovers, impotence, fever and cancer. The elephant's horns are hunted to make jewelry, utensils, trinkets, and religious figurines. Zebras, lions, and gorillas are all hunted for their fur. A lot of people question "won't the price of ivory go up in value if the number of poachers is reduced?" Well, the price of ivory goes up each day regardless because the scarcity of animals such as tigers, zebras, elephants, and rhinos are going up. These animals should not be hunted to begin with and there are strict laws and consequences regarding the decimation of these animal species. 

Poaching is not only seen to hurt Africa's animal species populations, but it is seeing to hurt the economy. John Snitch, head of wildlife research in Kruger National parks says "Wildlife in Africa is a huge source of income because it draws tourism. Without the animals, the tourism industry and many livelihoods are at stake. We are saving jobs. And I think that's the real key to this," With the reduction of animal species, there is a reduction of tourism. Tourists go to Africa for safari trips and if they do not see Africa's large range of animal species due to extinction caused by poaching, what else is going to make these people come to visit Africa? Drones are starting to bring more hope into Africa. With eyes overhead, animals near extinction can repopulate, which means more tourism can take place, therefore, more money comes into Africa's economy. 

These drones are incredibly unique. With the new technological advancements such as infrared cameras, longer lasting battery life, and GPS navigation, poachers will have no where left to hide. The computer data is able to guide the drones where to fly. The computers process data and predict where the animals will be each night, which will tell where the poachers are hiding. This technology is so accurate that it has led to the 40% decrease in poaching since 2012. The best part about this technology is that it is only improving. 

Some say that investing in drone technology will only be feasible during the day hours. People ask, what about when the sun goes down? Drones, equipped with infrared cameras, are now able to be the eye in the sky protecting these animals at night. So what is an infrared camera? According to FLIR Systems, "Infrared is a type of technology that detects heat and converts it into an electronic signal, which is then processed to produce a thermal image on a video monitor and perform temperature calculations". Infrared has changed the game to end poaching. To give an example of how accurate these infrared cameras are, a team from the University of Maryland saw how elephant's trunks changed temperature as they sucked water up from a trough. Poachers can no longer hide in the shadows of the night because these cameras are so accurate at detecting heat. Thomas Snitch, a PH.D intelligence consultant and remote sensing expert from Maryland, and XO of the United Nations' Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring Systems, first tested infrared cameras on drones in May of 2013. "I didn't have to find the poacher, I had to find the rhino," he said. The key to Snitch's strategy is locating the animal and scanning the area around for the poachers. If eyes are kept on the animals, that's the best way that they can be protected. That night, Snitch's team watched a group of Rhinos closely and their work paid off. They soon spotted a suspicious vehicle nearby and they alerted the rangers. They saved five rhinos that night conducting their surveillance. 

The battery life of these drones are currently being extended with all of the recent innovations in technology. At first, these drones could only stay up in the air for 30 to 45 minutes at a time. Currently, these drones can stay out in the field for over three hours and still fly back to base. A huge technological advancement is that the drones use enough battery life in the field, but keep a certain percentage to ensure that they can fly back to base without running out of battery mid trip. Batteries may not seem to be that important, but in order to provide power to the gateway to saving animal species, batteries were improved upon and the difference is life-changing for these animals. 

Drones are now making a huge difference with keeping surveillance on the parks because Rangers can now stay at base and monitor these animals via laptop. The laptops show the map tracking the flight path and the other showing the high-definition camera's point of view. The rangers do not physically need to be out in the field to operate these drones. They can be flown from base and back very easily and very accurately. Johnathan Downey, Airware's chief executive states, "At one point during testing a tractor severed the Ethernet cable so we lost all communications with the aircraft. It was able to work this out then fly back to base. When it didn't receive any further instructions it landed by itself". Obviously, it is only human to make mistakes, but with this advanced technology if something goes wrong with the communications to the drone, it will fly back to base, or if the batteries are low, it will self-land. 

Johnathan Downey claims that these drones are complementing rather than replacing sniffer dogs and armed ranger teams. Drones are just another technological advancement and tool ranger teams can utilize in order to catch poachers and keep eyes on animal species. Rangers need all the help they can get from the fight against poachers. About 1,000 rangers have been killed over the last 10 years trying to protect wildlife, the Game Rangers Association of Africa estimates. According to Save the Rhino, the Northern White Rhino population is only six left in the world as of October of this year. The use of drones is key to the rangers' success in providing that these animals do not go extinct due to poaching. Drones are now overhead and we need to keep them overhead if we want to see animal species, such as, the Northern White Rhino exist in years to come. 

Some disadvantages follow with implementing drones to combat poaching. Airware's Mr. Downey estimates that drones for anti-poaching will ultimately cost $50,000-$70,000 and higher-specification long-range drones can cost upwards of $250,000. White the 'brains' of drones weigh 100g, the batteries required to power for long-duration surveillance missions are heavy, meaning the airframe has to be bigger, therefore, more costly. The better quality cameras and infrared technology is very expensive to install. Also, it costs more to use a drone than a team of rangers in most cases. These drones are incredibly costly which brings up the point of theft. 

Drones have the capability of in depth surveillance which can be used on anything. There has been talk by the United Nations that these drones, which are being used for a good cause, can be seized and controlled by terrorist groups. Anyone has the potential to shoot these drones down for they are only 200-300 feet in the air. Just like with nuclear energy and power plants, terrorists can seize this technology and have a huge advantage and threat if they learn how to use it. 

"They're not a silver bullet," says Thomas Breare who is a part of Airware's technological specialists. "Trying to find the small shape of a poacher in a 90,000-acre park is still difficult, even with high-spec night time and thermal imaging". Although drones are very complex and very able to catch poachers, it is very hard to see poachers at night. Sometimes, poachers are mistaken for smaller animals on the ground and vice versa. Also, scientists and researchers are finding that these drones are disturbing the wildlife around them. Mark Ditmer, a conservation biologist at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, has found that wild black bears are likely startled or stressed by the sight or sound of a drone overhead. He says these results should prompt researchers to study the effect of drones on wildlife in more detail before these devices fall into even more common use. By examining the data from the cardiac monitors, Ditmer found that the bears' heart rates spiked in response to every single drone flight. The heart rate of one bear, a female with cubs nearby, increased by 123 beats per minute. As we can see, drones aren't completely full of benefits. While trying protect and enforce the law, these drones are mildly disturbing the animals in their natural habitats. 

As poaching becomes more of a threat to our environments and threatens extinction to animals such as rhinos and elephants, drones should be implemented into the park systems because they can quickly and efficiently catch the poachers due to their advanced programming and new technological upgrades. Drones have many advantages being that they are an eye in the sky and can travel very quickly. Rangers can keep a constant watch on animals from a safe distance to protect them from poachers. Although drones typically cost between $50,000 and $70,000 dollars, this does not make them expensive. They are a useful tool and have a much greater sentimental value because they keep animal species from extinction. 

In my opinion, drones are the key to end poaching. I am a hunter but I am also a naturalist. Seeing animal species starting to become extinct due to a man-made act such as poaching should have actions taken to assist the species. Drones are eyes for these rangers. They can patrol and keep over watch over animals throughout the day and night. Drones are only improving as well. To summarize, keeping the implementation of drones would only increase animal survival from poachers and the cost of these drones does not even come close to the cost of the extinction of a species. 

