Meerkat, the wide area surveillance system that is used in the Kruger National Park to detect wildlife poachers, has been recently upgraded with a new and lighter camera. This has eased the logistical burden around its use in the Park, increased its reliability and reduced the system’s power consumption.
The Meerkat system was developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to amongst others detect and capture rhino poachers before they attack. Since initial deployment in the Kruger in March 2017, poaching in the area under surveillance has been eradicated. Before Meerkat was deployed, more than one rhino a day was killed in the area but in its first six months of operation, the Meerkat system detected almost 90 poachers.
The Meerkat system allows for up to 200 square kilometres of coverage. Components include a Reutech RSR 904 ground surveillance radar, day and thermal cameras for 24 hour operation, and information analysis software that is able to detect, track and classify people entering certain areas. The radar detects multiple moving targets, does a first order classification, and then offers a human operator the opportunity to designate the camera to determine if the object is a human or an animal.
The Meerkat system started out using the Cyclone camera, which was subsequently replaced by Otus and then RINO, a smaller version of Otus with similar range capability. Hendrik Theron, former CSIR Research Group Leader in the Optronic Sensor Systems area, told defenceWeb the RINO upgrade allows a Meerkat operator from South African National Parks to easily lift the camera system in the set-up process. The previous Otus camera had to be transported in a special transport case and then lifted into place by either four people or by a crane due to its heavy weight. An additional benefit of the new camera is its lower power consumption, reduced system complexity and easier maintenance. Theron said the new camera provides approximately the same quality as the old one.
The RINO long-range day/night camera was designed as a fully sealed, low maintenance system that can be remotely deployed for extended periods of time. It operates passively in daylight, through dusk and down to halfmoon conditions, and is augmented with a long-range laser illuminator for zero-light conditions. RINO weights 23 kg (excluding chiller) and is smaller and more power efficient than Otus. RINO has a daylight recognition range of just under 10 km and a nighttime range in excess of 7 km.
A new development to replace the long-range RINO camera system is the Tyto multi-role camera system. Tyto is lighter and cheaper – Tyto weights 20 kg compared to the 98 kg of Otus and 23 kg of RINO. Tyto is able to operate during the day or at night with enhanced twilight performance. It has a high sensitivity monochrome main sensor, a zoomable thermal night sensor and a 30 times optical zoom colour viewfinder channel. The recognition range is around 6 km, compared to approximately 10 km for Otus and RINO. Development of Tyto started in 2018, with integration into Meerkat from last year.
In addition to camera upgrades, Meerkat may in future be fitted with a new Ground-based Surveillance and Classification Radar (GSCR). This has been developed by the CSIR with support from the Department of Science and Innovation.
Meerkat allows continuous coverage of large areas requiring protection. While it has, to date, only been used in the Kruger National Park, with three systems manufactured, Meerkat could also be used for border protection, open cast mining operations, and in industrial and farm security roles.
The Meerkat system in the Kruger is the outcome of a partnership, with funding coming from lotteries in the Netherlands (Dutch Postcode), Sweden (Swedish Postcode), the United Kingdom (UK People’s Postcode), and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). South African involvement is via the national conservation agency SANParks, the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) and the CSIR (DSI).
