Efforts to fight wildlife crime received an important boost thanks to a new grant from Google. WWF-US will use the grant to adapt state-of-the-art technologies for the protection of endangered species like elephants, rhinos and tigers. These innovative new tools will give rangers in protected areas and local communities a welcome advantage against the ruthless and deadly gangs of criminals targeting wildlife.  Remote aerial survey systems, wildlife tagging technology and ranger patrolling guided by analytical software like the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) will be integrated to increase the detection and deterrence of poaching in vulnerable sites in Asia and Africa. The goal is to create an efficient, effective network that can be adopted globally.

As you know, it’s a real disappointment to me that this new content is being forced out in a rush to meet Rhino Raid’s needs rather than as a joint development to equally benefit communications from WWF-SA Rhino Programme, as I originally proposed.

Governments made a clear choice at CITES to offer more protection to rhinos by agreeing on timelines that will help two of the worst offenders in the rhino horn trade, Viet Nam and Mozambique, to clean up their act.  Viet Nam has been recognised as the main destination for rhino horn, where it is under new demand as a treatment for cancer and hangovers. The Vietnamese government is now required to implement a strategy to reduce demand in the country and ensure horn traffickers are prosecuted and strongly punished.  Crucially for South Africa and the Kruger National Park in particular, this week’s conservation success also means that Mozambique must strengthen legislation and enforcement to reduce trade flows exiting the African continent.