Kenya Wildlife Service Adds FLIR Thermal Imaging Tech to Deter Poachers
One hundred new FLIR Scion OTM Thermal Monocular cameras will soon be deployed across Kenya as a tool to help end illegal poaching, thanks to a donation to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Teledyne FLIR.
One hundred new FLIR Scion OTM Thermal Monocular cameras will soon be deployed across Kenya as a tool to help end illegal poaching, thanks to a donation to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Teledyne FLIR. The company has been working with WWF since 2016 to support the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and rangers from regional conservancies to stop illegal poaching at Kenyan wildlife parks. These efforts include the Kifaru Rising Project, a 2019 collaboration between Teledyne FLIR and WWF aimed at leveraging millions of dollars of FLIR thermal technology, expertise, and support to end the poaching of rhinos in 11 parks and game reserves across Kenya. Seeing the success of the program, which helped stop all rhino poaching across Kenya in 2020, Teledyne FLIR is excited to announce the continuation of this partnership through this latest donation.
One of the primary methods of funding for the KWS and local conservancies is tourism, which has been hit hard since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the KWS is a quasi-governmental organization—meaning they are not entirely funded by the Kenyan government and partially rely on fees generated through tourism — support from WWF, including donations of technology such as FLIR thermal cameras with on-going training and tech support, is critical to efforts to protect endangered wildlife and reduce human-wildlife conflict.