Rangers try gaming technology to protect African wildlife

Depressing scenario: African elephant numbers fell by 20% between 2006 and 2015 because of a surge in ivory poaching.

NAIROBI: The campaign to track down poachers and protect endangered species in Africa's embattled reserves is tapping into the technology used in the virtual world of online poker and other computer games.

A US – funded initiative is applying artificial intelligence and game theory algorithms to predict the movement of poachers, helping rangers who are testing the new technology in Uganda to find illegal hunters and their animal traps.