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WILDLABS logoWildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

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Wildlife Crime / Feed

Wildlife crime is a complicated challenge, so it's no wonder that the conservation technology community has explored solutions with every type of technology, all with the aim of predicting, preventing, and stopping crimes like poaching, illegal logging and fishing, and the sale of animal products like ivory. Join our Wildlife Crime group to meet others who are working on potential solutions to this global challenge and to add your own expertise to the conversation! 
discussion

A thermal (at 1280x1024 resolution) impression of Kasteel park Born, The Netherlands

Kim Hendrikse

28 March 2026 10:50am

I'd like to share some of the first video content filmed with our new 1280x1024 thermal module. We are proud to announce that Wildlife Security Innovations has a new partnership...

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Ron Haber

16 June 2026 3:21pm

Hi Kim,

I come from automotive CV where false positives around vulnerable road users are a constant challenge, especially with edge cases at night and in low-visibility conditions (in Greenland or Canada winter conditions might skew the video clarity).

I’m curious about how this is handled in conservation/anti-poaching setups, particularly in IR-based detection systems that can pick up humans at range in darkness.

In automotive we rarely try to classify object intent, rather just direction of movement and proximity, so I’m wondering how systems in your context avoid over-interpreting a detection (e.g. differentiating a hiker or worker from a genuine threat scenario), and what role something like restricted location, known poacher trails, activity, or time of day might play into interpreting the detection.

Is the system usually designed to be triggered based with a manual triage backend or if there might be some degree of automated triage? Or if the methods you use are mostly for animal detection a la camera traps and human detections are an added benefit?

Would be great to hear how you structure that pipeline in practice.

Thanks,

Ron

Kim Hendrikse

17 June 2026 7:45am

Great questions! Actually, I added AI object detection with large models to my system back in 2019, before I got involved in wildlife, it was for security purposes. I got involved in wildlife in 2023. I think the vast majority of wildlife users of AI are using very small models deployable on low power systems. So they would have many false positives and negatives I expect.

My systems have not yet been used for poacher detection. When I developed it for security, I needed to make it so reliable that I could have it wake me at night. So false positives and misses had to be very small. To that end I wrote the software so it could combine several other mitigating factors. Such as multiple modules at the same time, statistical based triggers etc. For example, we could make it detect a person requiring both a high confidence thermal match and a low confidence visible match in order to trigger. That sort of thing. It can be made very reliable.

I don't think you need to determine intent with the system. That can be left to the humans. So long as they can be notified. With our systems, in addition to getting the notification they can then come in live and view the situation from multiple camera actions. Very effective visibility is the key and rapid detection and clear notification. For my home security setup, I'm using yolov6 large model with inference on 1280x1280 images. The large model is a 140 million parameter model. It's very good with both recall and accuracy. I can't remember the last time any false detection woke me. And it never misses anything.

It also had from the very start a flexible state machine built in that can be menu configured to combine all kinds of state before it triggers.

(I'll find out about low visibility situations soon as I'll be deploying some thermal systems to Greenland next month).

Kim Hendrikse

17 June 2026 8:00am

BTW. On my roadmap is to develop a very long distance IR system that could detect humans at 1km with reliably in complete darkness but I don't have the funding for it at the moment. It would use a zoomable IR system with a 30-180mm thermal zoom at 1280x1024 resolution. It's kind of a dream system on mine and I'm determined to build it.

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discussion

New "Human Dimensions" group on Wildlabs?

Matt Ziegler

29 May 2026 7:25pm

Hello everybody!I would like to propose the creation of a Human Dimensions group on WILDLABS.This idea came out of the social sciences lunch at ICTC 2026 in Lima...

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Tariq Ahmad

5 June 2026 8:12pm

Hello WildLabs community!

My name is Dr. Tariq Ahmad, and I am actively engaged in the conservation of the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata). As part of my research and fieldwork, I focus on understanding the ecology, habitat requirements, threats, and conservation challenges facing this iconic species.

The Indian pangolin is one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia, facing severe pressure from illegal trade and habitat loss. My work includes:

  • 📍 Conducting field surveys and camera-trapping to assess pangolin distribution
  • 📊 Analysing habitat suitability and threat patterns
  • 🐾 Collaborating with local communities and stakeholders for conservation action
  • 🧬 Publishing research to inform policy and protection strategies

I am passionate about translating science into practical conservation outcomes and engaging with global networks to support pangolin protection. I look forward to connecting with others working on pangolins, wildlife trafficking, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation technologies.

Feel free to reach out — I’d love to share insights, tools, and collaboration opportunities!

Warm regards,
Dr. Tariq Ahmad

Arika V

12 June 2026 9:01pm

I would join this group! I'm fairly new to this community, and human dimensions is my closest area of interest amongst the other groups listed for WildLabs. 

Henri Busson

14 June 2026 9:35pm

Hi

 

Heavily interested

I am trying to put in place a citizen science project where UX design and environmental human-computer interaction and Environmental communication are a big deal

keep me in touch

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discussion

Call for Collaboration: Share your voice at ICTC next week! 

Mandy Eyrich

11 February 2026 3:29am

Hello, fellow WILDLAB-ers! I'm Mandy, your current Human-Wildlife Coexistence Group Leader!  :)I am heading to the ICTC conference in Peru next week and while reviewing the...

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Mandy Eyrich

19 February 2026 3:35am

Hi Anna!

Is there anything that sparks your curiosity, which I can address for you? Take a look at the upcoming day 2 and day 3 sessions, and if you see anything that intrigues you, please let me know! I'll happily join the session that aligns, and share your thoughts! ☺️

Kind regards,

Mandy

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discussion

Tiger coexistence challenges

Mandy Eyrich

20 April 2026 3:20am

Too Many Tigers, Jungle Too Small: Human-Animal Conflict In Land Of Mowgli Check out this recent article about tiger conservation and community coexistence challenges...

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Jared Moore

2 May 2026 6:32am

Hi Mandy, writing from Indonesia where we manage the Sumatra Merang Peatland Project (SMPP) which is in a landscape supporting some of the last Sumatran tigers. Our project is part of a corridor including two national parks and a few scattered conservation areas within active oil palm and Acacia plantations. There's not a lot of room for tigers and they do range through human communities or come into contact with plantation workers. 

Fatal attacks are rare but two occurred in 2022. We hold annual HWC trainings with communities but also celebrate International Tiger Day with them, having a light-hearted event with games, face paint, and education of the importance of biodiversity, even when scary. We emphasize common sense personal safety measures to reduce the potential for conflict. Luckily livestock aren't very common in this area so that conflict trigger is not a major issue. Mostly it's about restricting activity at dusk/night/dawn, travelling in groups, not running, etc. We haven't found any feasible tech options (tagging is beyond our scope/budget) but we do use camera traps to see if/when tigers are present in/around our project area. This can only do so much for HWC as it's not a rapid response tool but does indicate presence. 

Regarding your question "Who/what parties should be held responsible for the loss of life, both human and tiger? Can they be held responsible?" there isn't an easy answer! Indonesian law technically gives tigers the same right-to-life as humans but in practice reprisals of course happen. In our region the military did respond to the 2022 events with patrols and presence, but they were not allowed to shoot. Obviously there is no proactive recourse against the tiger itself as a responsible party. It's an opportunity to redouble efforts on community education to explain why the attacks occurred (both fatalities were at forest frontiers, crouching with back to the forest, etc) and how to avoid re-occurrence! 

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discussion

Looking for tips about masters in Wildlife forensics and possible places to get some work experience.

Charlotte Jense

10 September 2016 10:21am

Update:Thanks for recent comments, this post is quite old now my apologies for not updating this any sooner. I have since finished my Masters and am currently a PhD candidate at...

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Lin Rhys

13 March 2026 1:22am

I'm applying to that UF forensics masters program...

Akiba

13 March 2026 4:29am

Congratulations on completing the masters and going into the PhD program. We hear a lot about wildlife crime out here in Asia. You may want to connect with ZSL Thailand who are working in the illegal wildlife trade and the smuggling of animals/parts through Thailand and the Myanmar border. 

Good luck!

Akiba

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discussion

I WANT TO TELL YOUR STORY

Barny Dillarstone

29 June 2025 10:22am

I create ocean exploration and marine life content on YouTube, whether it be recording nautilus on BRUVs, swimming with endangered bowmouth guitarfish, documenting reef...

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Tracy Kadessa

11 January 2026 7:33am

Amazing!

Found your instagram page and have been scrolling all morning ( most educative doomscrolling I've done so far😂). Love it, am seeing sea creatures I've never seen.

Manijhe

24 March 2026 1:37pm

Wonderful work! Would you be interested in documenting a story about afforestation from the Pacific Ocean to the Himalayas (Indus River focus)? 

I’m interested in doing an expedition documentary bridging mythology and conservation with a YouTuber to help bring awareness towards forest conservation all along the river. The focus is water and water wildlife.

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discussion

Women in Marine Conservation session in the Women in Conservation Forum (WiCF) day 2nd March in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Macayle Rose Guerin

30 January 2026 4:52am

Hello everyone, We have speaker slots available in the Women in Marine Conservation session in WiCF on Monday 2nd March in Nairobi! This hour-long...

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Macayle Rose Guerin

30 January 2026 4:56am

Disclaimer: The related organisations in the blue box below are not partnership statements. I am merely trying to spread the word. We only have official partnerships (e.g. by an MoU) with CCF and WildDrone for the GCTDF. 

Thank you! 

Susan Chege Reuben

30 January 2026 10:55am

Hi Macayle

Are these two different forums; one in Mombasa and other in Nairobi? can you make me understand please?

 

Macayle Rose Guerin

1 February 2026 2:02am

Hi Susan, We are just organising the one – Global Conservation Tech and Drone Forum 2-6 March in Nairobi. Women in Conservation Forum is a one-day forum on 2nd March, part of the wider GCTDF. https://www.gctdf.org/agenda I was merely mentioning the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa because of its importance in marine conservation.
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discussion

Snare detection technologies

Rachel Kramer

23 May 2017 4:19pm

Snares are a pervasive threat to wildlife around the world – indiscriminately killing hundreds of thousands of animals. Snares are notoriously hard to locate in the field...

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Paul Bunker

20 March 2024 7:12pm

I am interested in expanding our capability and understanding of snare detection by canines. We have two canines working in Asia that have successfully detected snares in training scenarios. However, final protocols for training and deployment are being developed and integrated into the team's capability. 

A potential enhancement is to add technology that supports the canine's detection capability.  

David Guerin

8 January 2026 3:17am

Hi team, can you please provide an update on where this effort sits now? There is a similar discussion on AI FOR CONSERVATION: Mass Detection of Wildlife Snares Using Airborne Synthetic Radar 

I want to add this as one of our competitions at the Global Conservation Tech & Drone Forum www.GCTDF.org in Kenya in early March, and include it in the new SCB Drones and Data WG as a discussion: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/scb-drones-and-data-working-group-society-conservation-biology 
 

This would build on the recent launch of a hands-on Tech Innovation Challenge around of the ADS-B proximity alert ,  as a safety layer in real conservation field operations where pilots are often multitasking. Please let me know the current status, data availability, key contacts, and what next steps might look like if this is to be integrated into the Forum and the Working Group agenda.

Thanks.

[email protected] 

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discussion

Mass Detection of Wildlife Snares Using Airborne Synthetic Radar

David Gaynor

7 January 2024 6:50am

Mass Detection of Wildlife Snares Using Airborne Synthetic RadarFor the last year my colleauges Prof. Mike Inggs (Radar - Electrical Engineering, Unviversity of Cape Town) and...

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Sean McCormack

21 November 2024 4:52pm

Hats off to your team for this absolute game-changing technology! 

We rescue stray and wild animals in Taiwan, and the bulk of our work is saving animals maimed by wire snares and gin traps. We've become better at finding the devices, but still not good at all. There's simply too much difficult terrain to cover and we only have eyeballs and hiking sticks to find them. We know roughly where they are because the maimed stray dogs will eventually find their way onto a road and be reported to us. Then we close one of them, set up a trail camera, get the evidence of the poacher in the act of re-setting it, and get him prosecuted and shut down. But we need to be able to scale this greatly.

I've been using a thermal-imaging drone to locate stricken animals and am now considering buying another drone more suited to finding traps and snares. Some newer drones are able to navigate through forest without crashing into thin branches, so I've been looking into equipping one with LiDAR to see if that can detect the devices. But then I came across your YouTube channel and then this post about using airborne synthetic radar, and I'm incredibly excited to see where you might take this incredible technology.

How can we get our hands on the SAR you're using? It's 3 kg, right? I'm wondering if I could fit it to a suitable drone. If it works above forest canopy to detect traps and snares on the forest floor, then I can use a load-carrying drone instead of a light obstacle-avoidance drone.

If you made the SAR yourselves, then maybe think about crowdfunding for your project. I'd happily pledge funds if it meant I could get my hands on the kind of equipment you're using.

I can't tell you how happy I am thinking about all the animals' lives you'll save with this. Don't just remove the snares—gather evidence and put the poachers out of business too!

David Guerin

7 January 2026 2:07am

Hi @DaveGaynor and team. I am really keen to pursue this with some practical testing in Kenyan conservancies. What is the status of this effort, and could we meet to discuss how to take it forward as part of the Global Conservation Tech and Drone Forum in Nairobi, 2-6 March. I am chair of the Society for Conservation Biology Drone and Data Working Group and would like to discuss this at our inaugural meeting on 20th January.  https://wildlabs.net/discussion/scb-drones-and-data-working-group-society-conservation-biology 

David Guerin

8 January 2026 2:53am

Hi team, Can you please provide an update on where this effort sits now? The original post from January 2024 described three trials of airborne synthetic aperture radar for detecting snares and gin traps with foliage-penetrating radar scanning at 120 m AGL and generating geolocated alerts back into EarthRanger with identity and confidence metrics.

I want to add this as one of our competitions at the Global Conservation Tech & Drone Forum www.GCTDF.org in Kenya in early March, and include it in the new SCB Drones and Data WG as a discussion: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/scb-drones-and-data-working-group-society-conservation-biology 
 

This would build on the recent launch of a hands-on Tech Innovation Challenge around of the ADS-B proximity alert ,  as a safety layer in real conservation field operations where pilots are often multitasking. Please let me know the current status, data availability, key contacts, and what next steps might look like if this is to be integrated into the Forum and the Working Group agenda.

Thanks.

[email protected] 

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discussion

Drone & ai use for uncovering illegal logging camps

Adam

21 April 2025 4:49am

Hi all,I am working with WCS in Cambodia, and am curious as to whether anyone has used combinations of drone / ai / radar tech to uncover illegal logging camps in forest...

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Sean Hill

21 April 2025 12:49pm

Hi Adam! 

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I have not used radar systems or AI systems for this sort of detection, but there are methods using change detection models to visualise changes in forests where logging may be occuring between different dates using drone photogrammetry and GIS software. I have found these methods very effective when monitoring deforestation, especially because not only can you quickly visualise where deforestation has happened, but you can also quantify the damage at the same time. Let me know if you would like to learn more.

 

Kind regards

Sean Hill

Leonard Hambrecht

14 October 2025 6:03pm

I am not sure about the legal restrictions for drones in Cambodia and the size of the area you want to cover. However, I would assume you would need a fairly large fixed-wing drones for the size of area, you would be interested in. At this scale, a small manned aircraft might be more accessible.

Regarding the use of sensors, the use of radar on drones is a rather uncommon outside military applications. Some mining companies use magnetic sensors to detector iron ore under the ground. Maybe they would be able to detect large metal objects as well. However, I assume logging activities should be fairly obvious, and I think a simple RGB sensor would be sufficient. In terms of data process, assuming you are looking for larger logging activity and camps, I do not think you need to develop an AI model to do this. The impact on the landscape should be obvious.



However, what you are describing sounds like the perfect use case of spaceborne SAR. ICEYE is a commercial product which might be an all-in-one solution for you. Otherwise, there is Global Forest Watch or you could develop your own workflow using something like Sentiel-1.



Good luck with your project!

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discussion

Piloting a QGIS Course for Conservation Staff – Seeking Interest & Input

Emma Richards

28 July 2025 1:05pm

Hi everyone,I’m developing a QGIS training course specifically for conservation practitioners working with patrol data (e.g. SMART) and other field-based spatial datasets. The...

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Sean Hill

3 September 2025 2:15pm

Thank you for sharing this Emma! I apologies for the delayed reply, I have been quite busy of late and will get to this as soon as possible! I look forward to it!

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discussion

New Group Proposal: Systems Builders & PACIM Designers

Chad Richardson

18 June 2025 2:52pm

Co-Creating Collective Impact Across the Conservation Technology EcosystemDear WILDLABS Community,I am proposing the creation of a new WILDLABS group focused on...

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Chad Richardson

19 June 2025 12:19pm

Hello again sir - PACIMs really mean 'projects' is the way I see it. Each part of the acronym can be seen as a project (if you have an assignment to do, you have a project really).

 

As for your query on 10 projects in 'this' group - I should ask for clarification if you mean particularly acoustics or in any group (I see now this is the acoustics thread after I selected all the groups for this post). If you are asking on acoustics, you're right - I am unsure on 10 as I am not too keen on acoustics yet. If you are asking 10 projects as a whole like 10 projects in the funding and finance group - I believe 10 to be a very reasonable number. Our projects we have co-created are for the most part replicable, rapidly deployable, quickly scalable, fundable through blended finance and more. 

 

Thank you again for the feedback.

Frank van der Most

19 June 2025 1:43pm

Thank you for your reply, Chad

I meant 10 as a whole, indeed. Perhaps you see your post in one group, but since it is tagged for all groups, I assumed you meant 10 in total.

In your first post you explain PACIM stands for "Projects, Assignments, Campaigns, Initiatives, Movements, and Systems", so I understood it as more than just projects. Obviously, many things can be packed into a project or called a project, but then, what does it mean that 'Projects' is part of the list?

Well, if you think 10 projects is doable, then don't let me stop you.

Samuells keshine

1 September 2025 2:51pm

hi chad, its great to hear from you_its really a great idea and impactful journey  in our community

 

having experience in community-led conservation initiatives, working and leading in community based conservation @nature_embassy  as the leader (found on insta and other social pages), 

i will be glad to be part of the group, thankyou

 

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discussion

Gulf of America Dead Zone Restoration

Chad Richardson

9 June 2025 9:49pm

Hello all,I’ve recently become aware of the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, a 6,500-square-mile hypoxic area caused by agricultural runoff from 32...

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Chad Richardson

21 June 2025 6:22am

Hi WILDLABS Community! I have started mapping the project for the Gulf of America Dead Zone and here are some photos of the progress. 

 

In the last picture, I have included WILDLABS entities at random and I will be mapping them to the industry collaborators we are seeking. 

 

I hope to have any interested parties please reach out and if you'd like to contribute your technology, wisdom, or just follow along, I appreciate it! Thank you

 

 

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discussion

Apply for Free Access to Nature FIRST Conference (innovative solutions for biodiversity monitoring and human-wildlife coexistence)

Nalini

22 May 2025 2:37pm

The European project Nature FIRST is hosting its final conference at Ouwehands Dierenpark in the Netherlands on 25–26 June 2025, and we’re looking to expand our...

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Kim Hendrikse

28 May 2025 4:20pm

Nice!

Thought I'd mention that Wildlife Security Innovations will have a booth there, demonstrating our new multi-camera, local AI camera trap that supports miniature high resolution thermal modules. I will be bringing these along.

Neeltje van Lavieren

31 May 2025 4:21pm

Hi

This is great! 

So just to double check - there is no way to join online? I would love to be part of this conference. 

Thanks, Els van Lavieren

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discussion

Poaching data request

Martina Fernando

23 January 2025 2:27pm

Hi everyone!My name is Martina Fernando, and I am a PhD student in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology at Sapienza University of Rome. For my PhD project I aim to identify...

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Morena Rodriguez

25 March 2025 8:33am

Hello Martina, I just messaged you! Hope to speak soon! :)

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