AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 42
PILOT BRIEFING
Air Shepherd targets poachers
Unmanned systems guided by 'big data'
BY JIM MOORE
42 |
ILLEGAL POACHING, fueled by the burgeoning demand for ivory, threatens the
existence of African elephants, a species
that could be wiped out earlier than was
first estimated by some as recently as 2014.
Rhinoceros populations face similar peril,
and the wild populations are a fraction of
the size.
Air Shepherd, a nonprofit organization created by the Charles A. and Anne
Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, joined the
effort to supply Africa's rangers and wildlife
guardians with aerial solutions, but it has
something that others do not-University of
Maryland professor Thomas Snitch and his
invention, a tool to analyze data and predict
where poachers will strike next.
Snitch developed this use of "big data"
(large-scale data collection and analysis),
to find bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan
before they harmed American troops-
and to also track down those who planted
the devices. Snitch realized that the same
approach, with a few adjustments, could
work just as well finding poachers-even
before they make their kills.
Lindbergh Foundation Chairman
John Petersen has been working behind
the scenes to enlist high-profile celebrity
support for the Air Shepherd campaign,
which seeks donations and to replicate
what Snitch and his team have accomplished on a thus-far limited basis in South
Africa. "They have flown over 350 missions," Petersen said, referring to three
years of small-scale operations by Snitch
and local operators in South Africa, and
"not one rhino has been killed at any time
and place they've been flying. We know
that it works."
The unmanned systems initially were
greeted with suspicion by African rangers, Snitch said. The government agents
tasked with protecting wildlife were concerned the small aircraft would replace
them. The benefits soon became obvious
enough to win them over: "We will see if
there's anyone hiding in the bushes waiting to kill you."
Snitch said the same technology has
other potential applications, including
search and rescue. The technology could
also boost tourism, which so many countries depend on to finance government
operations including conservation. First,
though, there is the increasingly urgent
task of protecting the wildlife-elephants
and rhinoceros in particular-which draws
so many of the tourists.
EMAIL james.moore@aopa.org
WEB
www.lindberghfoundation.org
http://www.lindberghfoundation.org
http://www.facebook.com/continentalmotors.aero
http://www.facebook.com/continentalmotors.aero
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Contents
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover3
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