AI listening technology being deployed to stop poachers

A photo of a male forest elephant captured near the site where some of the gunshot recordings were taken. (Anahita Verahrami via SWNS)

By Stephen Beech

Wildlife poachers are to be targeted using state of the art AI listening technology.

A network of microphones has been deployed across the rainforests of central Africa to detect gunshots from illegal poaching of elephants and other animals .

Technological advancements have enabled webs of acoustic sensors to be deployed in Gabon, Congo and Cameroon, creating the possibility of real-time alerts to the sounds of gun-based poaching .

But the belly of the rainforest is loud, and scientists say sorting through a constant influx of sound data is computationally demanding.

Detectors can distinguish a loud bang from the whistles, chirps,