Wildlife conservation and protecting endangered species has become a priority for many nations as they are ramping up efforts to create a safe and flourishing wildlife environment for animals, birds and the nature itself. In this effort, use of technology is playing a defining role as new age technologies are capable of accurately identifying wildlife, tracking and monitoring their health, without being intrusive to their natural habitat. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and RFID, BLE and long range networks such as LoraWAN can help achieve a higher level of visibility of wildlife/ flora and fauna and unlock new opportunities for conservation efforts. The fact that humans are at the top of the food chain, it falls on us to take responsibility to ensure sustainable living environment for all the wildlife and the nature itself by choosing to live by sustainable practices.
An IUCN red list that monitors endangered species estimates, “more than 42,100 species are threatened with extinction that is still 28% of all assessed species.”
What is RFID and how it can help with Wildlife Conservation?
RFID, short for Radio Frequency Identification is an AIDC tool that is capable of automatically identifying and capturing data, wirelessly via radio frequency signals with the help of an RFID tag, RFID reader and antenna. The technology is quite efficient and can provide up to 15m of range (passive UHF RFID tags) to detect an RFID tagged animal with the help of an RFID reader but when you use an active RFID tag, you can monitor and track tagged animals up to 100m and this range is extended all over the environment by carefully placing RFID readers at various intersections.
RFID has been used in a variety of wildlife conservation projects already. RFID tags have been used to track the movements of elephants, to monitor the migration patterns of sea turtles, and to track the survival rates of endangered species. It has also been used to help manage wildlife populations, to prevent poaching, and to improve the efficiency of wildlife management operations. In addition to its use in wildlife conservation, RFID is also being used in a variety of other animal tracking applications, such as livestock tracking, pet tracking, and horse tracking.
Let’s see how RFID is being used in animal tracking and wildlife conservation in many countries:
RFID for tracking elephants in African Region
In Africa, RFID tags are being used to track the movements of elephants. This information is being used to help protect elephants from poaching and to identify areas where elephants are most vulnerable to conflict with humans.
RFID for protecting turtles in USA
RFID tags are also being used to track the migration patterns of sea turtles in the United States. Information gathered by RFID is being used to help protect sea turtles from boat strikes and other hazards by taking data backed actions.
RFID for endangered species in Australia
In Australia, RFID tags are being used to track the survival rates of endangered species and to improve the management of endangered species populations.
How RFID helps with animal tracking and wildlife conservation
Animal identification
RFID tags can be used to identify individual animals and the data can be used to track animals' movements, monitor their health, and prevent poaching.
Animal tracking
RFID tags can also be used to track animals' movements over time. This helps in studying animal behavior, identifying migration patterns, and assessing the impact of human activity on wildlife populations.
Animal health monitoring
Using RFID tags, you can also monitor animals' health. You can identify sick animals, track the spread of disease, and provide early intervention for animals that are at risk and save their life. At a time when trained labor is costly or virtually unavailable in animal and livestock management, RFID is a cost saving and efficient tool to help with wildlife conservation.
Poaching prevention
RFID tags can be employed to prevent poaching as well. By tracking the movements of animals, it can be more difficult for poachers to target specific animals as data of animal movement or the lack of it will help with preventing poachers and act as a deterrent.
Wildlife management
Using RFID tags, you can improve the efficiency of wildlife management operations. Wildlife Rangers can use RFID tags to track the movements of animals in a wildlife reserve, which can help rangers and managers to identify areas where animals are most vulnerable to conflict with humans and take preventive measures.
RFID is a powerful tool that can be used to improve animal tracking and wildlife conservation and it has a wide range of potential applications in wildlife conservation. By using RFID tags, wildlife rangers can collect valuable data about animal movements, behavior, and health which can be used to improve the management of wildlife populations and to protect endangered species.
As this technology continues to develop, it is likely that RFID will be used in even more innovative and effective ways to protect wildlife.
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