In the wildlife reserves of East Africa, elephants, rhinos, gorillas, and other large mammals are hunted by poachers. All that stands between these animals and harm's way are small teams of park rangers and conservationists. The danger is very real for these species on the brink: A staggering 35,000 African elephants are killed each year, putting them just a decade away from extinction, according to the non-profit RESOLVE. Technology is an increasingly critical tool for protecting elephants and other large animals, given their necessarily expansive habitats: A group of just 50 rangers in Kenya, for example, covers a reserve of 3,000 square miles. Park rangers and conservationists have used motion-activated camera traps to catch poachers in action, but the animals are tragically already lost by the time rangers can respond.

Artificial intelligence created by Intel is to be used in cameras to detect poachers entering wildlife reserves and alert park rangers before they can kill endangered animals. The technology firm has announced its software is to be used in TrailGuard AI cameras that are capable of object detection and image classification remotely, and which can alert rangers should a person or vehicle be detected. The cameras are to be distributed around wildlife reserves by non-profit organisation Resolve, and have been built in partnership with the National Geographic Society and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. They will be deployed in African wildlife reserves and throughout Southeast Asia in early 2019, the technology firm said. The pencil-sized devices contain a long-life battery, which can last up to a year and a half without needing to be charged.