Big Brother manoeuvres in the park
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife takes pioneering strides in ‘Cybertracker’
THE KwaZulu-Natal’s conservation arm, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, has announced a series of ‘sensational breakthroughs’ in identifying and communicating vital conservation information from its game reserves and protected areas.
The innovations in the data-gathering systems of the familiar Cybertracker patrol monitoring software, is now claimed to offer, amongst others, a new tool in monitoring black rhino and other priority species. as well as helping combat poaching.
Wildlife Data Specialist (rhino) Carmen van Tichelen described the organisation’s two-year research and development as ‘sensational…a revolution in the monitoring and management of protected areas throughout Southern Africa’.
The breakthrough, she said, came with the installation of a new system into the hand-held monitoring devices (Trimbles) carried by field rangers on patrol.
At the press of a button the information is now captured, downloaded and codified instantly.
‘The enhanced scope of the data (biological as well as wildlife crime), its accuracy and the ease with which it can now be recorded is genuinely ground-breaking,’ Van Tichelen said.
‘What’s more impressive is how quickly data can be downloaded, sorted and supplied to management.
‘It has serious implications for conservation management throughout Southern Africa,’
Developing software
Integral to this expanded capacity, has been the writing of a novel ‘Reporter’ software system that automatically reviews the data, verifies it and instantly generates various reports. The system was developed by Ezemvelo’s Database Technician at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, Geoff Clinning.
‘Never before has critical data relating to all biological information, law enforcement trends and the monitoring of field patrols become so authoritative and instant,’ said van Tichelen.
The results are already being felt with Ezemvelo commanding novel and comprehensive insights into wildlife numbers and their patterns of behaviour that hold potentially dramatic consequences for combating rhino and other poaching.
To date Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has invested some R5-million on purchasing and supporting 200 Trimbles that are currently being used in all 13 of Ezemvelo’s rhino reserves.
The Cybertracker software, originally developed in South Africa by Louis Liebenberg, was provided to enable illiterate trackers to record wildlife data on hand-held computers.
But the sequences needed to be enhanced.
Information systems developer Rose Hamilton began the process by installing visual icons of all animals and plants in specific reserves.
With the subsequent display of all data in isiZulu, the Trimbles now guarantee management of detailed recordings with minimal human-error.
Documents sightings
Ezemvelo Park Ecologist (HiP) Dave Druce said the Cybertracker system also automatically documents the position of a patrol’s whereabouts every three minutes.
‘We now have infallible spatial data of both the areas covered on patrols and the location of priority wildlife species, such as rhino, elephant, wild dog, lions and the like,’ he said.
Management can also play out instant maps from this data that visualises anything from animal locations, removals and mortalities to poaching incidents and patrol routes.
These benefits have translated into cost-saving measures.
It took Ezemvelo’s Game Capture unit only four hours to dart 18 black rhino for notching purposes.
‘Previously it would have taken two days. The savings, both financial and human are significant,’ said head of Game Capture, Jeff Cooke.
