InteleSense News
The Nature Conservancy and Intelesense Collaborate for Conservation
06-01-10 -- HONOLULU -- Intelesense today announced a project with The Nature Conservancy Kaua'i Program to develop and deploy a remote trapping and monitoring system in the Wainiha preserve and Alaka‘i plateau on the Island of Kaua‘i. The Wainiha Valley Preserve and the contiguous Alaka‘i plateau management area encompass over 6,500 acres in the core of Kauai, including some of the best examples of intact native-dominated lowland and wet forest remaining in Hawaii. Both areas are virtually inaccessible by foot and nearly all conservation activities require costly helicopter support. The high costs of helicopter time and logistical difficulties associated with maintaining traps in remote locations have previously made it impossible for managers of remote conservation preserves to utilize such tools for feral ungulate control.
The Intelesense-based system will provide remote, self-powered sensor stations that will detect animal activity through infrared sensors, capture images via motion-activated cameras, transmit these images from these very remote deployment regions using its distributed wireless mesh network technology, and alert managers of trap activity via email/txt messages. The resource manager can then login to a secure online web portal to view trap status and imagery, and remotely activate traps and monitor their success, all without requiring staff or helicopter time to physically visit the trap location. This technology will drastically reduce the helicopter travel costs associated with maintaining ungulate traps in remote areas by eliminating the need to visit the traps for any reasons other than responding to captured animals and periodically re-filling the automated feeders. The remote monitoring infrastructure will then continue to be used as a monitoring tool even after trapping efforts have been concluded. Managers will be able to detect the ingress of new pigs into previously ungulate-free areas, monitor the effectiveness of natural barriers, and monitor fence integrity more accurately and efficiently than ever before.
"Managing feral pig populations is an challenging prospect, especially in remote, inaccessible areas," said Trae Menard, Director of the TNC Kauai Program. "We hope this technology will enable managers in Hawaii and elsewhere to control feral pigs more cheaply and effectively".
“We are very excited to work with The Nature Conservancy on this important conservation project,” said Dr Kevin Montgomery, CEO of Intelesense, “applying our ability to sense and transmit data from remote, rugged areas for the purposes of protection of fragile ecosystems is one aspect of the passion that we all share at Intelesense."