ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR RHINO CONSERVATION

Did you know AI-powered wearables are helping to save rhinos? In August, Wild Tomorrow Conservation Experience volunteers assisted with fitting a critically endangered black rhino with a RhinoWatch, a solar-powered foot collar that monitors animal behavior and location, at Thanda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Read more in our blog below, the first in a series of rhino conservation stories in the run up to World Rhino Day on September 22.

The black rhino cow styling her new RhinoWatch foot collar. She subsequently had her horns trimmed as well.

Wildlife reserves in South Africa face unrelenting pressure from poachers, who feed the demand for rhino horn in traditional Asian medicine. Therefore, monitoring rhinos is vital in our province, KwaZulu-Natal, which has tragically become a rhino poaching hotspot. Without monitoring, reserves would not know how many rhinos they have in their vast wild spaces or if any individuals are missing and in need of urgent help, or, even worse, and far too often, to find a rhino that has been brutally killed for its horn.

A single horn can fetch tens of thousands of dollars in the illegal wildlife trade run by the same international crime syndicates that drive drugs, weapons, and human trafficking across continents. Poachers have recently moved their sites from Kruger National Park to our region: of the 499 rhinos killed last year in South Africa, 325 were from KwaZulu-Natal's under-pressure reserves. Last month, Wild Tomorrow was able to help as part of a remarkable conservation effort at Thanda Private Game Reserve, one of the private reserves we partner with and support, by equipping a critically endangered black rhino with a new AI-powered RhinoWatch.  

Wildlife management and veterinarians fitting the RhinoWatch foot collar.

Rhino Custodians, a nature conservation and rewilding nonprofit, developed the RhinoWatch device to detect abnormal rhino activity. The AI analyzes the data and alerts reserve management about changes in rhinos’ health, including illness, injuries, and births, natural deaths, and poaching incidents, as well as providing conservationists with long-term location tracking and valuable insights into rhino behavior.  

Collaring a large and potentially dangerous animal like a rhino or elephant is a high-octane operation. Once rangers ascertain the target animal’s rough whereabouts, a wildlife veterinarian partners with a very skilled helicopter pilot and flies above the reserve to locate the rhino and administer temporary anesthetic from a dart gun. To hit a running rhino from a moving helicopter, a vet needs to be a good shot! It takes a few minutes for the rhino to be sedated, which gives the wildlife management team on the ground time to whip in to stabilize the rhino, affix the foot-collar and trim the horns.

Our volunteers’ rhino collaring was remarkable because the Thanda team spotted a female black rhino in an open grassland area it would not normally frequent. On this day, the wind was particularly strong, and the pilot had advised against attempting to dart any black rhinos due to the challenging conditions. Finding this particular black rhino in the open without a newborn calf, however, presented a rare opportunity. Against the odds, the vet managed to dart her near a road accessible enough for the ground crew to reach her safely.

This rhino was a well-known individual with an amazing story of survival that could have been a double tragedy. Eight years ago, while heavily pregnant, she suffered a bullet to the head but was able to charge the poacher before he could kill her and hack out her horn. This resilient rhino gave birth to a healthy calf a few days later.

It was an incredible day for conservation and for the team of volunteers who were able to join in this once-in-a-lifetime experience as part of Wild Tomorrow’s rhino conservation work, supporting partner reserves in our region to fight together for rhinos’ survival. At Thanda we sponsored the helicopter time and the black rhino’s foot-collar, funded by donations raised through our conservation volunteer program. 

The RhinoWatch foot collar Wild Tomorrow sponsored, which was funded by donations raised through our conservation volunteer program.

With your continued support, we can expand these efforts and secure a future where rhinos and other wildlife can roam freely and safely. Join us this month in celebrating rhinos and supporting the cutting-edge work that keeps them safe. Together, we can make a difference and help secure a wild tomorrow for these incredible animals.