PAWS anti-poaching AI predicts where illegal hunters will show up next

The illegal animal trade is a global scourge but a lucrative one, worth $8 to 10 billion annually, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) -- trailing only human, drug and weapons trafficking in value. With so much money to be made, conservationists and wildlife rangers face overwhelming odds against well-organized poaching operations fueled by incessant demand for illicit animal products. The results of this protracted conflict have been nothing short of devastating for the species caught in the middle. At the start of the 20th century, more than 100,000 tigers are estimated to have roamed throughout Southeast Asia. Today, due to a combination of habitat loss and aggressive poaching, fewer than 4,000 currently remain in the wild.