Google joins race to save endangered elephants in Kenya

At Lewa Conservancy, elephants wear GPS-collared devices like this to help rangers keep track of them. If the collar sends an alert indicating the elephant has stopped moving, a team of rangers and tracking dogs will investigate. [PHOTO:JAMES WANZALA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: According to the inventory of Kenya’s trophy stockpile, the country has 25,052 elephant ivories and 1,248 rhino horns.

Ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years, according to a new study that provides the first reliable continent-wide estimates of illegal killings.

In 2011 alone, roughly one in every 12 African elephants was killed by a poacher.

In central Africa, the hardest-hit part of the continent, the regional elephant population has declined by 64 per cent in a decade.

The demand for ivory, most notably in China and other Asian countries, and the confusion caused by a one-time sale of confiscated ivory, have helped keep black market prices high in Africa.

The good news, however, is that American President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have made a joint commitment to enforce a complete ban on importation and exportation of ivory.

They have also agreed to cooperate in ending the surge in wildlife trafficking that endangers countless animal species around the world, especially the white rhino.

The new study, published in the August 19 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, led by George Wittemyer of Colorado State University, included local and regional population estimates and concluded that three-quarters of local elephant population are declining.

It is due to these shocking statistics that Google, in partnership with Save the Elephants and Samburu County Government, has launched Google Street View to save elephants by creating awareness and applauding efforts geared towards conservation of elephants in Kenya.

Every day, the Lewa radio command centre plots the movements of elephants (and other GPS-collared wildlife) onto Google Earth to help rangers determine where elephants are and when they might be in danger.

If an elephant’s GPS collar sends an alert indicating it has stopped moving, a team of rangers and tracking dogs will investigate.

The newly launched Google Maps feature that enables users to explore places around the world through 360-degree, panoramic, and street-level imagery, will now feature the Samburu National Reserve, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust as well as Save the Elephants.

“It will help bring people around the world closer to the majesty and beauty of the remaining elephant population in Kenya,” said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, during the launch recently.

He added: “Samburu is an elephant paradise. Thanks to the culture of the Samburu people, the elephants here are unusually tamed and trusting, and that has allowed us to study them as deeply as anywhere in Africa. It’s exciting to be joining hands with Google to open a window onto Samburu, and to help us better protect its elephants.”

The Samburu Street View Special Collect is part of Google Earth Outreach’s commitment to bringing knowledge and resources to non-profit organisations like Save the Elephants.

The platform will not only serve to educate people about the recurring threat to the elephants, but will also provide for the Samburu County Government a platform on which they can create awareness on the importance of elephants to the community.

“We hope that by bringing Street View to Samburu, we will inspire people around the world to gain a deeper appreciation of elephants and complement the efforts of organisations such as Save the Elephants.

Google Kenya country marketing manager, Farzana Khubchandani, said the launch not only brings them closer to their ultimate goal of creating the world’s most comprehensive, accurate and usable maps, but also brings the beauty of Kenya to the world.

Samburu is currently home to one of the most-studied remaining elephant populations in the world. The reserve is used by approximately 900 elephants, which may not exist in the next 20 years if they are not protected.

An elephant at Samburu National Reserve that this feature hopes to protect PHOTO: JAMES WANZALA/STANDARD

For more than a decade, Save the Elephants has been using Google Earth as a platform to display the movements of the elephants they track, assisting rangers in defending elephants and training local people to become “wildlife experts”.

“Giving people a virtual tour of the Samburu National Reserve through Google Street View will bring the Samburu to the world and inspire the world to come to Samburu. The more people experience our culture, our people and the majestic elephants and other wildlife with which we co-exist, the more we are able to conserve and sustain the Samburu culture and its fragile ecosystem for generations to come,” said Moses Lenolkulal, Governor, Samburu County.

Google engineering manager Sean Askay said Google is willing to partner with other counties with wildlife to help track them.
Google Street View is available in 57 countries and Kenya is the second country in Africa after South Africa to have the feature available and functional.

Google Street View is free for all and available on Google Maps on the web browser as well as Google Maps for mobile on Android and iOS platforms.