A less intrusive rhinos conservation, a hope for endangered species

Now Rhinos Speak

A lot of solutions have been deployed to bring help on endangered species. But looking at closely to these devices – whether they are collars, tags – all are are very intrusive, and very expensive. It’s not adapted to wildlife, which needs as less human or technical intervention as possible. The Sigfox Foundation, using the low power Sigfox network, has imagined a new tracking solution, to help rangers to better monitor a population of wild rhinos in Africa. The Foundation has concretely rolled out the long-range radio Sigfox network network: three base stations fully working in autonomy, covering a 4000km2 conservancy area. Partnering with a group of rhinos conservationists, we have prototyped a small tracker giving three GPS signals per day, directly installed in the horn of black and white rhinos. This prototyped device has been made to be less intrusive, larger than an inch, increasing battery autonomy (several years), and is estimated at around 50 dollars per unit. The next step is to produce more sensors at lowest price to equip a maximum of rhinos, so to contribute to their survival. The Foundation therefore aims at using a new kind of energy, affordable and reliable for environment protection purposes, while fostering innovation and the use of emergent technologies. In addition to the tracking, Our Foundation is aiming to face poaching with field monitoring, using other types of sensors to warn local rangers of what's happening: fences and gates openings first.

https://sigfoxfoundation.org/now-rhinos-speak/

Regional implementation

Regions of implementation

• Africa

Ongoing from 01/07/2017 to 30/12/2018

Sigfox Eutelsat Lowveld Rhino Trust (LRT) The International Rhino Foundation Save the Rhino International

      * E-environment

• Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

• Project
• Database