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Gorilla rangers go hi-tech

In wildlife conservation, it pays to have an edge. To be one step ahead of poachers – or, indeed, of gorillas.

That’s why, alongside field essentials like sturdy boots and tents, the Gorilla Organization’s intrepid ranger teams are also now equipped with the latest high-tech tools. What’s more, they have the knowledge to put them to good use in the forests of the Congo.

At the Kisimbe-Ikobo Nature Reserve, in remote North Kivu, 25 rangers have been trained in installing and using camera traps. The team has already fixed cameras in the Kira Sector of the reserve, home to a little-seen population of eastern lowland gorillas. This way, they will know where to focus their anti-poaching patrols, while also getting to know more about the unhabituated gorilla groups.

Meanwhile, in nearby Itombwe Nature Reserve, hopes are high that newly-installed cameras will manage to snap a wandering gorilla.

And it’s not just cameras that are giving rangers the edge. The Gorilla Organization’s teams have recently been trained in SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool). This allows them to compile the data they collect during their gorilla monitoring patrols and share it with fellow conservationists, not just in Africa but right around the world.

Internationally standardized data means clearer insights and more opportunities to share knowledge and best practice. So far, rangers from Itombwe and Kisimbe-Ikobo, Maiko and Walikale reserves have taken the training, giving them cutting-edge expertise to go alongside their savvy knowhow of the forests and that vital advantage over the poachers who mean gorillas harm.

This story has been reprinted from Digit News Summer 2024. To download the full issue please click here.

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