Video monitoring and optical viewing firm, TeleEye SA, has unveiled a line of FLIR handheld thermal cameras to help combat rhino poaching in the country.
The FLIR handheld thermal cameras use infrared imaging technologies that detect infrared radiation or heat to enable the user to see in total darkness as well as in all weather conditions, says a statement.
Philip Smerkovitz, MD of TeleEye SA, says a rhino is killed every eight hours in South Africa.
"We need to bring the advantages of optical surveillance technologies to bear for the benefit of South Africa's fast-disappearing rhino population."
The FLIR personal product range includes thermal vision rifle sights, monoculars and binoculars to enable poachers and rhinos to be located and tracked in the dark. Fellow members of anti-poaching parties can be quickly located, as can wounded or downed animals, the statement notes.
"It's the perfect tool for expedition leaders, wildlife management professionals, and law enforcement officials to find and watch animals and locate poachers at night," Smerkovitz adds.
According to the Department of Environmental Affairs, 1 215 rhinos were killed by poachers in SA in 2014.
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