Hasta La Gadget!

It turns out that GPS units are good for more than just making sure you don’t get lost, they can also be used to help save endangered African rhinos from poachers.

In the North West province of South Africa, researchers have outfitted five different rhinos with GPS chips, which allow the researchers to follow the animals’ movements and the chip will also sound off alarms if the rhinos exhibit unusual movement or leave the park area. The chips were inserted into a small hole drilled into the inert part of the rhino’s horn.

“It’s basically a satellite system which connects with the cell phone system and we can monitor the animals on whatever time delay we want,” Rusty Hustler, head of security for North West Parks Board, told the BBC. “There are a number of alarms that can be programmed: one for excessive movement, so if the rhino starts running, and another that goes off if the rhino sleeps for longer than six hours, which is abnormal.”

In addition to saving the lives of rhinos, the chips could also potentially be used to track down poachers who slaughter animals and make off with their horns.