When night falls, danger unfolds at the uMkhuze Game Reserve. And while some of the world’s most deadly predators—ranging in size from hyenas to lions—coexist next to African elephants, giraffes, and more within this massive, 140 square mile natural area, they aren't the only creatures out hunting at night.

This particular section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa plays host to one of the country’s most profitable, albeit illegal, industries: poaching. In Africa, it’s a $70 billion business. Organized crime rings dabbling in poaching often carry ties to other smuggling industries like narcotics and weapons; some even connect with terrorist organizations. In this specific target area, rhinos most often land in the criminal crosshairs, with over 3,800 killed in South Africa alone over the past seven years. Their horns allegedly sell for $65,000 per kilogram as poachers look to profit from ivory and rhino horn powder.

On the evening of November 4, 2014, two poaching suspects entered the reserve. One carried a .458 caliber rifle outfitted with a silencer. A cane knife—a long, machete-like tool used for harvesting—may have also been involved. Nearly 80 rhinos had been poached already that year; more seemed destined for the tally. But by chance, four park rangers noticed suspicious movement while on foot patrol that evening. A firefight ensued.

“[Poachers] are prepared to shoot and kill whoever stands between them and a rhino horn,” Dr. Bandile Mkhize, the CEO of the company running the reserve, told the Zulu Observer one day later.

Luckily, in this encounter, the rangers (and rhinos) survived.

“We do not encourage the killing of poachers,” Mkhize said. “But at times our rangers are left with no choice as they defend themselves from these criminals who obviously do not value human life.” Throughout 2014, authorities had already arrested 50 suspected poachers and recovered 40 firearms.

In 2015, the war between wild life protectors and poachers continues to be both bloody and expensive. It's littered with similar (sometimes worse) incidents, and it requires investment in things like manned-aerial vehicles to supplement overmatched eyes on the ground. With such a complicated mess, it all sounds a bit like a war—so maybe it's no surprise that the most recent hope for a breakthrough comes from computer technology honed on an actual battlefield.

From Afghanistan to Africa

The US Department of Defense spent billions of dollars during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to prevent deaths caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and one successful solution used a combination of mapping and big data to predict the most likely spots for attacks. That way, such areas could be surveyed with unmanned aircraft—aka drones. Today, this combination has made it south, and it's being applied to stopping the poaching of Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos.

The analogy between poachers and terrorist bombers holds up well according to Thomas Snitch, a visiting professor at the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS). UMIACS was once contracted by the Department of Defense to apply its analytics "to find likely places where IED bombs would be placed in Afghanistan and Iraq," Snitch said. And while he had not been involved in the original research, Snitch reviewed the work extensively when he joined the program as a visiting professor eight years ago. "Then one day about five years ago when I was in Kenya, a ranger came up to me and said, 'The rhinos are being killed, the elephants are being killed, the lions are dying...is there something you can do to help?'"

Working with wildlife reserve rangers in Kenya and South Africa since, UMIACS developed algorithms based on animal tracking data, past poaching incidents, and a collection of other geospatial, weather, and environmental data. Now it can forecast where and when poaching might occur. When paired with drones, this information helps put rangers right where poachers are most likely to show up.

UMIACS has already tested its software in Africa with drones from UAV Solutions, a Maryland-based company. And Snitch said early results are encouraging. "Wherever we flew drones, poaching stopped."

Separately, South African unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer UAV and Drone Solutions (UDS) has tried testing UMIACS' software within private reserves in eastern South Africa. To merge those efforts, the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation decided to recruit UMIACS and UDS for a larger program called The Air Shepherd Initiative. This joint project (also involving the Peace Parks Foundation) is trying to raise enough money to train rangers and drone operators at reserves and national parks throughout all of Sub-Saharan East Africa. If they can equip the anti-poaching side with these proven systems, they hope to end the practice and prevent the extinction of certain local elephants and rhinos.