Further Research on Water Salinity Level is Necessary to Save Gangetic River Dolphin Habitats

Gangetic River dolphin

A five-year study carried out in the Sundarbans has revealed that an increase in water salinity level is threatening the river dolphin habitats. The study was periodically carried out in the lower area of the Hooghly River, which covers a span of 97 kilometers of central, eastern, and western Sundarbans between 2013 and 2016 in different seasons. At the same time, researchers measured the salinity level of water. Based on the interaction with local fishing communities, the study area was differentiated for land-based and boat-based surveys. It was discovered that "no sighting record for Gangetic dolphin in waterways whenever the salinity level crosses 10 ppt." The researchers believe that the increase in salinity in the Sundarbans' eastern and central regions has affected the dolphins' habitat. The heightened salinity level is due to hydrological changes such as decline in freshwater flow, decreased flow from barrages, run-off from neighboring agricultural lands and river water abstraction for irrigation. The rise in salinity level also appears to be favorable for Irrawaddy and Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins as these cetaceans can flourish in saline waters.

Hooghly River

I find it absolutely necessary that a great deal of research is required to decrease the salinity level of the Hooghly River in order to save the habitats of Gangetic river dolphins. This includes finding and conducting measurements on increasing the flow of freshwater and barrages along the river. In addition, a great deal of measurements to be implemented on how to decrease run-off from adjacent agricultural lands and limit the abstraction of river water for irrigation. I also believe that further research studies regarding Hooghly River's water salinity is essential, in order to determine at what salinity level would all three dolphin species be able to thrive. If increase in water salinity level appears to be favorable to both Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, then what will become of the river dolphins? This is why I firmly think it is highly crucial to conduct further studies on water salinity of the Hooghly River, in order to formulate solutions to prevent any further threats to the river dolphin habitats and hopefully come up with a solution as to what salinity level can all three species thrive.

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African Countries Should Work Together and Not Debate with One Another on Safeguarding Elephants

An African bush elephant in Tanzania

The illegal ivory trade has been decimating Africa's elephants for several years. Despite the efforts being implemented to prevent further loss of elephants to the trade, the continent's elephants continue to fall victim to poachers. Now, several African countries containing elephants have divided themselves into two groups regarding elephant conservation: one group consists of countries containing some the world's largest elephant populations that are pushing for lax restrictions on the ivory trade and another group of countries calling for more control is the best way to mitigate the illegal poaching of elephants for their tusks. The countries arguing that commerce will help them pay to safeguard elephants are the ones in southern Africa while those countries who believe that even restricted ivory trade incites demand and encourages illegal killing of elephants include Gabon and Kenya. The conflicting proposals were released by the office of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). They will be discussed during a CITES meeting scheduled to take place in Colombo from May 23 to June 3 this year. The last meeting was held in Johannesburg in 2016, in which CITES refused appeals to loosen an international ban on the ivory trade that has been in place for decades. According to WWF wildlife trade expert Colman O'Criodain, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press, he indicated that the meeting in Colombo should focus on administering anti-trafficking measurements instead of engaging in pointless debates about whether to trade legally.

An African forest elephant in Gabon's Invido National Park

A southern African proposal stated that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe have roughly 256,000 elephants which is more than half of the total estimate for Africa. It indicated that protecting elephants as human populations escalate and wildlife habitats reduce comes at a big cost and proposed that jointly controlled trade in government-owned ivory stocks will help relieve that stress. The proposal even criticized CITES as being an "inhibitor and not an enabler of progress." A similar proposal was made by Zambia, which stated that elephants are competing with people in rural areas for resources and that local people would be more lenient if they see "economic returns earned from the sustainable use of elephant." The debate even touched on jurisdiction issues. For example, countries like Gabon, whose elephants have been massively poached, and Nigeria, which has a very small number, want elephants in southern Africa to be subject to tighter restrictions. Southern African countries, on the other hand, believe that countries with their own problems, such as weak law enforcement, should not dictate policy on others. A columnist from Zimbabwe named Emmanuel Koro wrote in The Herald that it was time for countries in southern Africa to act in their "national interests" and contemplate declining to agree with CITES-supported bans on the ivory trade as well as rhino horn. He even suggested that Japan's recent decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission could serve as a guide.

An African bush elephant in Namibia's Etosha National Park

It really disturbs me that African countries are engaged in an absurd debate on how to protect their elephants from the ivory trade. On one hand, southern African countries are demanding for lesser restrictions on the ivory trade and on the other hand, countries in East, Central, and West Africa are calling for more restriction on the ivory trade. How can these countries, whose elephants constitute a significant part of the tourist industry and are part of their natural heritages, become embroiled in such arguments while elephants continue to fall victim to the ivory trade? I highly urge the governments of various African countries to please call off this ridiculous debate regarding Africa's elephant conservation. Instead of debating, they should jointly work together in order to safeguard one another's elephant population and should maintain strong ties with CITES. If Africa remains divided over the issue on the ivory trade, then elephant populations will be sure to dwindle on a large-scale. The bottom line is simple: Elephants must be protected and the ivory trade should NEVER under any circumstances be legalized; it must be ended by any means necessary! Same should apply to the trade in rhino horns. Both of these animals have been suffering and continue to suffer by the ongoing demand of ivory and rhino horns. The time has come to step up efforts in protecting these animals from poaching and the illegal wildlife trade without any form of delay.

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Can Artificial Intelligence Help in Fight Against Illegal Poaching?

TrailGuard AI

Technology company Intel recently announced that its AI software chip Movidius will be fused into new anti-poaching cameras owned by non-profit organization RESOLVE in Africa. The latest improvement is called TrailGuard AI. With the chip, TrailGuard AI will assimilate deep neural network algorithms for object recognition and image processing. In addition, it will also function as a motion sensor thus notifying rangers to near actual-time of poaching threats. According to RESOLVE's director of biodiversity and wildlife Eric Dinerstein, Intel not only provided AI technology to the organization but also collaborated with it to build, test, and enhance this anti-poaching solution. According to Intel, the new AI-powered camera with Movidius intends to give advanced accuracy, longer battery life, and is about the size of a pencil which means it can be easily hidden from both poachers and wild animals. The company further added that this new system will be set up in 100 national parks and game reserves across Africa this year beginning in Serengeti and Garamba National Parks and that there are plans to expand the deployment in South America and Southeast Asia. In order to set up the new system, RESOLVE is collaborating with a number of organizations including the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the National Geographic Society.

African elephants

I'm really amazed by the enhancement in technology in combating illegal poaching and it cannot get any better than the announcement of artificial intelligence being integrated into cameras. This breakthrough is really important because regular cameras allowed park rangers to obtain photos that they had to manually review to ascertain if there is a poaching threat or not. But now, with the introduction of TrailGuard AI, authorities will be able to quickly intercept and capture poachers. I'm very hopeful that this enhancement in technology will enable authorities to stay one step ahead of poachers when protecting elephants, rhinos, and other endangered species in Africa and elsewhere. In my opinion, joint collaboration between big technology companies like Intel and various organizations dedicated to the protection and conservation of the world's wildlife is highly essential in combating illegal poaching and wildlife trade.

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