Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge yields innovative solutions
16 clever innovations have won the recent Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge, receiving $10,000 each and technical assistance to pursue their solutions. The competition attracted more than 300 entries from 52 countries, all offering science and technology solutions to tackle wildlife trafficking issues.
We've summarised a few that particularly caught our eye!
Fake GPS turtle eggs reveal trafficking routes
USA
Poachers regularly steal sea turtle eggs from beach nests for sale on the black market. USA's Paso Pacifico team plans to create artificial eggs for four commonly targeted turtle species. The eggs, containing GPS devices, will be placed in nests that are considered poaching targets. The eggs can then be tracked and mapped, revealing trafficking routes.
Enforcement Gaps Interface (EGI)
USA
EGI uses powerful data mining and analysis to identify gaps in the enforcement of internet wildlife trade. The EGI team will build an online, password protected interface that will allow environmental law enforcers to access data from nearly 100 commercial sites for CITES Appendix I-listed fauna sites.
e-Eye
India
The "e-Eye®" is a self-learning application that provides around-the-clock wildlife surveillance. It innovatively combines software and hardware, including hi-end thermal surveillance, to create an intelligent monitoring system. The e-Eye enables the surveillance of inaccessible areas; trend analysis; intrusion detection; patrol management; and corruption prevention.
The device can identify the direction and movements of big group of animals including group density and average speed.
Tank Watch: The Good Fish / Bad Fish Tool for Saltwater Aquariums
USA
Did you know that about 98% of fish found in saltwater tanks can't yet be bred in captivity? This means that tens of millions of coral reef fish are captured using cyanide, weakening and killing fish, corals, and other invertebrates.
The Tank Watch mobile app aims to increase consumer awareness by allowing people to easily identify popular aquarium species. Consumers will be able to determine whether the fish they are considering can be bred in captivity, or whether it could only have been caught in the wild.
