DURBAN - A Swedish electric bike company Cake has begun an anti-poaching initiative in close collaboration with the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC).
The SAWC is situated just 10km west of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The college has been using rowdy dirt bikes for patrolling.
Cake’s engineers developed an electric bush bike, a silent, purpose-built electric off-road motorcycle that allows rangers to approach poachers without being detected, and paves the way for more efficient anti-poaching patrols in the region.
The company unveiled the newest addition to its bush bike range on Wednesday.
Stefan Ytterborn, founder and CEO of Cake, said traditional combustion engine motorcycles require costly, inconvenient and unsustainable deliveries of fuel to support the ranger teams as they work deep in the African bush.
Ytterborn said those deliveries, by diesel trucks and even helicopters, further drive up the cost of anti-poaching patrols and cause even more pollution in those sensitive areas.
“With electric bikes for anti-poaching, rangers are equipped with mobile power stations and solar panels to charge the bikes with renewable power from the sun, allowing them to operate off the power grid and independent of traditional power sources.”
The SAWC has, with the help of Cake, enabled rangers to approach poachers without being detected and thus halt illegal attacks on lots of wild animals, including several types of antelopes (Suni, and Red and Blue Duiker) in particular.
SAWC chief executive, Theresa Sowry said poaching had devastating consequences for wildlife all over Africa.
She said in some instances, it is the primary reason why many species face the risk of extinction.
“Contrary to general perception, one of the strongest motivations for poaching is poverty and the need for food among local inhabitants. Areas with widespread poaching are often large, remote, and lacking roads, making patrolling by car virtually impossible,” Sowry said.
Sowry added that anti-poaching teams had started using dirt bikes for patrolling. However, these bush bikes run on gasoline, and, depending on the location, the fuel used to power these bikes must be brought in by truck or via helicopter.
“Although the motorcycle approach has proven highly successful, the roaring combustion engines unfortunately alert poachers miles away, decreasing the chances of catching them.
By utilising off-road motorcycles, the goal is to increase efficiency in catching poachers without forewarning them of an approach.”
Sowry said the partnership to test new technologies for innovative conservation solutions was extremely exciting.
“We are very proud to be partnering with Cake and Goal Zero to test these electric off-road bikes given the impact that this could have on countering poaching across Africa,” said Sowry.
South African National Parks (SAN Parks) spokesperson Isaac Phaahla said the park could not comment because it was not part of the study.
Daily News