For MIT Technology Review, Matthew Ponsford explores trends in high-tech wildlife conservation. Tools like rapid DNA tests (to identify species on the spot), radioactive monitors and X-ray fluorescence guns (to screen for seized parts and concealed animals), and bioacoustic devices (to detect threats like chainsaws and gunshots) are being deployed around the world, on land and at sea. These technologies help authorities map poaching networks more quickly. The UN has pledged to end the trafficking of protected species by 2030; while that goal may be ambitious, conservationists hope these emerging tools can shift the fight.
Imagine a border agent who has just opened a box of shark-like fins or a shipment of live parrots and needs to know whether the particular species is one that can legally be captured and transported. People in this situation don’t have weeks to spare.
More picks on wildlife conservation
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“Madagascar is reeling from political unrest. But there’s another problem that no one’s talking about.”
