The Charge Bracelet

“Smart algorithms in the tracking collar continuously monitor the rhino’s behavior, and in the event of an incident, an alert is generated that pinpoints the rhino’s location via GPS. This enables the effective, real-time investigation of possible poaching incidents. Behaviors that can be tracked include fighting, mating, giving birth, and death. The tracking collar is also used to monitor where exactly the animal moves from day to day. This enables the reserve staff to deploy anti-poaching teams where the rhinos are, to secure them from poaching incidents.”

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at www.savingthesurvivors.org. 

“By making use of innovative Artificial intelligence (AI) smart collars! The system consists of two main components, namely the AI-Enabled Rhino Collars and a private LoRa (Long Range) Network. These Rouxcel [foot] collars are solar powered and can last many years without any maintenance, compared to regular collars which require replacement at least every two years. The collars communicate through a private LoRa-Rhino network, which is simple to install and maintain. The base station is a small box with built-in antennas, a solar panel and batteries—no additional solar panels or heavy batteries are required. These base stations communicate to the EarthRanger platform via a cellular network.”

What are AI-Enabled Collars? They’re a lifeline for rhinos, intelligently learning each animal’s unique behaviors to predict when they may need help and allowing conservationists to arrive in time.

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at www.savingthesurvivors.org. 

“Not at all. Over 1,000 collars have been deployed on rhinos, and there has not been one injury recorded to a rhino with these specific collars.”

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at www.savingthesurvivors.org. 

Rhinos are not extinct, though several species are listed as Critically Endangered, including black rhinos, Javan rhinos, and Sumatran rhinos. White rhinos and Indian rhinos (commonly known as greater one-horned rhinos) are listed as Near Threatened and Vulnerable, respectively. Today, there are fewer than 7,000 black rhinos and around 16,000 white rhinos left in the wild.

The Northern White Rhino, a subspecies of white rhinos, is considered functionally extinct as only two females, called Najin and Fatu, remain, living under constant protection in Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

The primary threat to rhinos is excessive poaching for their horns, which are essentially made up of hard, compressed strands of hair. The horns are most often smuggled for use in traditional Asian medicines, though they have no proven medicinal value. On the black market in Southeast Asia, rhino horn is now at least twice the price of gold per gram. The tragic result of many poaching incidents is the loss of a rhino’s life.

Rhinos live in parts of Africa and Asia, with black and white rhinos in Africa, Javan rhinos in Indonesia, Sumatran rhinos in Sumatra, Borneo, and Indonesia, and Indian (greater one-horned) rhinos in northern India and southern Nepal.

A rhino’s weight varies significantly by species! Massive white rhinos weigh between 4,000–6,000 lb (1,800–2,700 kg) with their heads alone tipping scales at up to 1,000 lb (450 kg). Their smaller African cousin, the black rhino, weighs between 1,700-3,000 pounds (~800–1,400 kg).

On average, rhinos live 30–50 years with slight variances across species.

There are five species of rhino in the world: black rhinos, white rhinos, Javan rhinos, Sumatran rhinos, and Indian (greater one-horned) rhinos.