Oct. 28, 2014
C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. announced that its antennas
are being used in The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
located in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe to monitor
and prevent the poaching of rhinos.
The combined size of these three parks covers 35,000
square kilometers and is one of the world's greatest animal
kingdoms. The park contains 40% of the world's rhino
population and it has recently become the frontline of the
rhino poaching wars especially on the borders of Mozambique
and South Africa. A rhino is killed every 8 hours as its
horns have become more valuable pound for pound than gold
and this relentless slaughter threatens it survival.
Saab Grintek a C-COM iNetVu integrator based in South
Africa is sponsoring a foundation that is working closely
with the three governments where the park is situated. The
foundation has been testing Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV's),
also known as drones. The drones, which are equipped with
regular, as well as infrared cameras and thermal sensors for
sensing body heat as well as heat from vehicles during the
night, are flown and controlled from a specially equipped
vehicle. Using the C-COM iNetVu vehicle mounted antenna, the
unit stays in contact with the operational center, and any
disturbance or potential breach in the conservation's life
is immediately responded to. This setup provides the park
rangers with the ability to monitor activities in the park
in real-time, day and night and intervene as required, as
well as record the action for eventual prosecution of the
poachers.
"Having the C-COM Mobile unit as the main means of
connectivity during this operation, proofed to be the best
decision we made. The success and the availability of the
system has become the norm of a daily process." said Gustav
Engelbrecht, Product Manager Satellite Systems at Saab
Grintek Technologies.
"This innovative solution of using UAV's in conjunction
with the C-COM iNetVu antennas for monitoring and control of
large areas or difficult to access locations from the air
will open up many new applications. We expect to see a
number of our integrators from around the world apply this
technology to their existing vertical markets, such as
emergency communications and disaster management." said
Leslie Klein, President and CEO of C-COM.
