Nairobi — Historically, it has been said that human, cattle, and wild animal integration can never be a peaceful effort and has been regarded as an extremely risky endeavor. However, the emergence of sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation is making this effort simpler, safer, and ecologically beneficial day by day.
Having cattle range at large in a wildlife reserve is something that many would even consider ethereal; however, the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Laikipia is among the few that have taken the risk.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia is not only known as home to endangered wildlife species but has also been identified as home to the largest herd of purebred Boran cattle in the world, which roams freely in the predator-infested vicinities.
For decades, the high predatorial density of animals such as lions, hyenas, leopards, and others in the conservancy has not only posed a risk to the more than six thousand cattle at the conservancy but also to the herdsmen who accompany the animals.
In his first week as a herdsman in the conservancy back in 2016, Simon Murathi experienced a terrifying encounter with a fierce lion that nearly took his left leg and claimed the life of one cow. The incident will always remain fresh in his mind. A tale that he will possibly live to tell his children and grandchildren for years to come.
"On my Fifth day in Ol Pejeta 2016, August date 15 I came face to face with a hungry lion when I was out in the fields looking after the herds. The lion had tried to attack one of the cows, but then it turned to me. It then sank its tooth in my left leg. I tried to fight it back and when it looked into my eyes, it just let me go and took one of the calves and went with it," he said. "I then reported the incidents and I was immediately taken to the hospital after a few days I recovered and came back to work."
In an effort to stop these instances, the Conservancy has undertaken a groundbreaking advancement in the creative adoption of AI satellite tracking collars. This move has not only helped in improving the ecological benefits but has also ensured the peaceful coexistence between wild animals, cattle, and humans.
According to William Njoroge, who is the head of Shared Services at Ol Pejeta and oversees technology and innovations in the conservancy, one cow in every herd, which consists of 100 cattle and some predators such as lions, has been equipped with satellite tracking collars that transmit the exact location of the herd and that of the predators such as lions to an AI-coordinated system known as the "Earth Ranger," which has helped in maintaining minimum interaction between the two parties.
"There is another tracking that happens, it's not fixed track. We have a system that is called Earth Ranger which is a Dashboard that allows us to monitor a lot of assets of running an organization. One of the things that we monitor in the earth ranger is that we set up where cattle bomas are set up and we have proximity alerts that come up," he said.
"So when a lion goes into close proximity to the cattle Bomas, then at that time a vehicle is dispatched to go and kick the lions away from the cattle boma," he added.
The AI system not only tracks the animals but also other activities happening in the park, such as monitoring the location of security vehicles and displaying thermal images that are captured through thermal cameras.
However, to reinforce this, the Ol Pejeta head of livestock and agriculture, Adil Butt, says that the conservancy has further trained its herdsmen on how to deal with predatory attacks and steer clear of predator-infested areas, a step that has also proven to be effective. The conservancy compensates any herdsman who gets injured during such encounters. Despite the significant reduction in predatorial attacks on cattle and humans, an average of 60 cattle a year are lost.
The satellite trackers further enable the meticulous observation of the cattle's grazing patterns so as to ensure the cattle reduce and control overgrown biomass and grass. This provides a conducive environment for smaller herbivore animals, such as gazelles, to also feed.
Furthermore, it is essential to use technology and ecological monitoring so as to make sure that the cows range freely on degraded grounds, thus improving the fertility of those lands and creating more pastures for the herbivorous wild mammals to graze on.
"The herd management because we run an integrated model of conservation, the heard management involves knowing where the cows are generally because the location of the grazing is informed by research so we have an ecological monitoring unit that goes out and observes how much palatable grass there is out there," Njoroge said.
"So grazing patterns are informed by that, so it is actually scientifically informed, where you will graze, so the areas that are degraded are where you will typically find cattle bomas. These are enclosures where the cows will sleep at night. So the Bomas are set up there and the cows spend the night there. They drop the dung and that dung helps reinvigorate the pastures," he added.
The Conservancy has further adopted the use of microchips that are inserted in a calf ear so as to digitally monitor the progress of the cow as it grows. The chips digitally transmit vital information such as the weight and health of the cows throughout their lifetime before being slaughtered or used for breeding purposes.
Njoroge stressed the need for the government and the private sector to pump in more effort so as to not only elevate the potential of technology in conservation efforts but also in agribusiness.
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"The potential of technology in the conservation and agribusiness sectors remains really high and it is up to us to explore. But technology in the conservation space is really at its infancy when you compare with other sectors, But we for us we are on the forefront in adopting and collaborating with like-minded people to achieve this," he stated.
According to Ken Kimani, the Conservancy's Chief Commercial Officer, the Conservancy is set to deploy more technology, such as thermos cameras and unmanned aircraft systems such as drones, so as to effectively curb other conservation threats, such as poaching around the clock.
"We have thought of drones that can work at night and monitor fencelines, however, we are also working with partners to establish processes and systems where we are able to protect our herds in terms of cattle and also other wild animals such as the endangered Rhinos and elephants. This could be through tagging we are in partnership with many institutions of learning and tech companies in terms of establishing solutions," he said.
According to experts, Kenya is among the East African nations that are emerging as regional tech hubs, with a growing number of AI initiatives, such as unmanned aircraft systems, deployed in various sectors such as agriculture and health.
