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
Reversing Extinction
“Technologies of preserving and reviving organisms are already redefining the meaning of life, death, and extinction itself.”
Wildlife Attacks and Strange Animal Behavior—Fake Images Spark Conservation Concerns
“AI-generated images pose a direct threat to conservation efforts by distorting public perceptions of wildlife.”
An Exclusive Look Inside the Largest Effort Ever Mounted to Keep the Great Barrier Reef Alive
“Australia is doing absolutely everything to protect its most iconic ecosystem — except, perhaps, the one thing that really matters.”
How Pronghorns Outran the Ice Age
“Can they outrun an uncertain climate future?”
Scientists Are Testing a Surprising Approach to Fighting Hunger in One of the Poorest Places on Earth
“Madagascar is reeling from political unrest. But there’s another problem that no one’s talking about.”
Horseshoe Crab Diary
“They inspired the same fear and delight that walking in the woods once did when I was a child: the fear and delight of discovery.”
