Kerlink : First black rhinos protected by sensor-implants in horns

Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Wednesday, 27thSeptember, 2017 - The Internet of Life and the ShadowView Foundation have successfully implanted LoRaWANTM-equipped sensors directly into the horns of critically endangered black rhinos. The sensors give park rangers the ability to accurately monitor the whereabouts and activities of the large mammals and keep them safe from poachers.

©theinternetoflife

The operation took place in Tanzania and is part of a LoRaWANIoT Smart Parks solution that is rolled out in several National Parks throughout Africa. The rhino trackers show the location of the animals within the sanctuary, providing the park's security personnel with better actionable intelligence. The deployment in Tanzania was supported by Semtech and Kerlink.

©theinternetoflife

Using the LoRaWANnetwork's cost- effective, energy-efficient and long- distance connectivity (up to 30 kms), powered by Kerlink WirnetTMiBTS Compact 868 MHz, small sensors were directly implanted in the horns the rhinos. Kerlink's geolocation-ready LoRaWANgateways combined with Semtech's geolocation solver eliminate the need for GPS systems in use in some IoT applications that consume far more energy.

The geolocation systems' longer lifecycle allows Smart Parks trackers to update the rhinos' location a couple of times per hour instead of the once or twice a day allowed by other systems. The increase of detailed data is transmitted from the sensors within the network to an observation room where the tracked items appear on a digital map.

"The brutal onslaught of poaching of rhino populations across Africa has resulted in fewer than 5,000 black rhinos remaining in the wild", explains project leader Tim van Dam, "1,000 of which are the Eastern black rhino subspecies. Smart Parks is a new tool in the battle against poaching."

As a next step, ShadowView and The Internet of Life acquired the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF)to increase network coverage of the protected area, so that all black rhinos in the area can be protected with Smart Parks.

Other Smart Park applications used by the park management are the monitoring of gate open/closures through solar-powered LoRaWAN-based sensors installed on the gates and solar-powered trackers installed on vehicles to track the whereabouts of personnel and tourists in high-risk areas. ShadowView and The Internet of Life will continue their efforts to improve the Smart Parks solution in several National Parks. New applications, like improved fence monitoring, connected camera-traps and tracking of equipment, like firearms, will be launched in the near future.

The Internet of Life is a company that develops, deploys and maintains Internet of Things technology to protect endangered wildlife like the black rhino and the elephant. The Internet of Life teamed up with the ShadowView foundation to deploy full LoRaWAN-based security solutions in National Parks in Rwanda and Tanzania and is planning to expand across other National Parks in Africa.

For more information, visit www.theinternetoflife.com.

ShadowView was founded in 2013 with the purpose of using new innovative technology for environmental and animal protection. In 2014, the foundation became the first organization in the world to locate rhino poachers by using drones. The organization has executed multiple campaigns in Africa, amongst them Namibia, Rwanda, South- Africa, Malawi, and Kenya.

For more information, visit www.shadowview.org.

Kerlink, a founding member of the LoRa AllianceTM, specialises in network solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT). Its mission is to provide its clients - telecom operators, businesses and public authorities - with equipment, software and services to design, launch and operate IoT networks. Over the past three years, Kerlink has invested more than €8 million in R&D. In just over 10 years, more than 70,000 Kerlink installations have already been rolled out for more than 260 clients, including major telecom operators such as Tata Communications, and utilities such as GrDF and Suez. The company's solutions are enabling IoT networks worldwide with major deployments in Europe, South Asia and South America. In 2016, Kerlink generated revenues of €14.1 million, 25 percent internationally. Since 2013, it has posted average annual growth of more than 50 percent. Kerlink has been listed on Euronext Growth Paris since May 2016.

For more information, visit www.kerlink.com or follow us on Twitter @kerlink_news

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for high-end consumer, enterprise computing, communications, and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The Company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC.

For more information, visit www.semtech.com.

The technology used in a LoRaWANTMnetwork is designed to connect low-cost, battery-operated sensors over long distances in harsh environments that were previously too challenging or cost-prohibitive to connect. With its unique penetration capability, a LoRaWANTMgateway deployed on a building or tower can connect to sensors more than 10 kilometres away or to water meters deployed underground or in basements. The LoRaWAN protocol offers unique and unequalled benefits in terms of bidirectionality, security, mobility and accurate localization that are not addressed by other LPWAN technologies. These benefits will enable the diverse use cases and business models that will grow deployments of LPWANTMIoT networks globally.

Semtech and LoRa are registered trademarks or service marks, and LoRaWAN is a trademark or service mark, of Semtech Corporation or its affiliates.

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