Catching poachers is difficult. In India, a group of 8-10 armed poachers near the Kerala border managed to poach a Sambar Deer. Wildlife rangers were able to get to the group, but they killed one poacher amidst a crossfire, while the rest fled into the forest at night. Despite the rangers’ presence, having to worry about catching poachers, trying not to get killed, and getting the poached animal from poachers can be overwhelming. Frustrations continue to rise amongst governments, rangers, and scientists trying to catch and punish poachers. Recently, new developments in technology such as apps and cameras have created hope for catching poachers more effectively. 

Gathering evidence to convict poachers can be a difficult  process for officers. The need for efficiently gathering information on poaching incidents is high and urgent. India has seen a decrease in the demand for Rhino horn in recent years, only for this demand to be replaced by the desire for Pangolin scales and Tiger pelts. Nearly 700 Pangolins and 40 Tigers are poached every year in India. 

To combat these incidents, camera traps and drones are being used in regions like Madhya Pradesh, India where Tiger poaching is extremely popular. Infrared technology has been integrated into these devices in order to spot poachers and wildlife based on their temperatures. Drones that fly over covered forests can spot hidden poachers using thermal cameras. Camouflaged camera traps are placed in trees to catch roaming poachers and identify certain wildlife species using AI. Drones and camera traps are important  tools to use in protected areas spanning thousands of acres where poaching is rampant. After all, trying to find groups of poachers at night in thickets of bushes and endless plains can be a difficult task for a couple of rangers.

Drones and camera traps capture thousands of photos and videos. While AI is convenient in helping identify species and poachers, there is still a considerable amount of data that must be analyzed by humans since AI technology can struggle to identify specific traits from distorted visuals. With so much data being collected, it also creates an issue of how quickly the data can be sorted to be used appropriately. 

Despite the existence of this data, it is yet to be combined with other technology that could greatly benefit from the visual data. The developers of the Hostile Activity Watch Kernel, or HAWK have created an application for officers and officials that aims to track poachers. Manu Satyan, a Kerala district forest officer, and Jose Louies, the director of the Wildlife Trust of India recognized that there was a major struggle in catching poachers and predicting where poaching crimes would occur. HAWK gives officials access to a wide range of information such as poaching hotspots, vehicles used by poachers, and ways poachers sneak into protected areas. This information is collected in the field by Kerala wildlife officers and then put into HAWK. Kerala wildlife officers are then able to submit cases with the information from the HAWK database in order to convict poachers more easily. It helps keep poaching data organized and ready to use for court cases. 

    Data taken from drones and camera traps can provide applications like HAWK with visual evidence to use against poachers. On the ground, wildlife officers can input data into HAWK that drones and camera traps may not catch. Drones and camera traps capture  visual evidence and even locations where officers may be able to arrest poachers. Since convicting poachers in court requires evidence, having visual evidence can be critical. The more concrete evidence there is the longer and harsher a sentence will be. 

This could make poachers take the severity of their actions more seriously. 

Such evidence makes it hard for poachers to claim that they accidentally poached an animal.  

Little to no available evidence and weak punishments throughout countries allows for the exploitation of wildlife which must be reworked in order to fully reap the benefits of our current technology. New technologies and systems like HAWK will help track down poachers and lessen the occurrence of poaching. With the integration of new technologies, wildlife will be more protected hopefully leading to an increase in wildlife populations and biodiversity.