@StephODonnell Good to hear from you, and thanks for drawing my attention to this question!

Hi Chris,

As Steph is mentioning, as Ranger Campus Foundation we aim to strengthen law enforcement in protected areas, by focusing on ranger training. We are developing an e-learning platform (Ranger Academy) and acconpanying training modules specifically targeted to the needs of rangers. The content is based on the training guidelines that were written by the big players in the field and were just made public:

http://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/anti_poaching_training_guidelines___electronic_version.pdf 

Main advantages of Ranger Academy are:

- Combine e-learning with physical training and shorten the time you spend on basic level training. This enables instructors to make better use of their time when on the ground.

- Rangers can access their personal e-learning environment when they have time for it - no internet is required for following lessons. So no need to take people off patrols.

- Rangers can communicate with other rangers around the world and lessons in all modules are given by rangers.

- Managers have more insight in ranger competence levels and certificates acquired.

This turned into quite a story so will leave it at that. Let me know if there is anything I could assist with.

Best wishes,

Dominique

P.S. Attaching a picture of the filming of the Care under Fire module last month, where Joseph is demonstrating the correct use of a tourniquet. Picture copyright of Cees Baardman.

Hi Chris, 

@StephODonnell thanks for the heads up on this question!

United for Wildlife have an free online course https://learn.unitedforwildlife.org/ which has an "Introducing Conservation" lesson which covers conservation basics.

Over this year we're (for transparency - I work on the project) releasing a new series of Insights on specific areas of conservation. 

So far we've released "Species and Spaces" and "Worth More Alive" insights - the latter is focussed on the Illegal wildlife trade.

We're also releasing a  series of films called "Natures Guardians" which focus on the Southern African Wildlife College and cover some of the aspects of ranger training. You can view these on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH4rBFGCnvow7YQe3ycwWJ3mVR2MAwuIu  or Facebook page

Thanks!

Thanks, @Suzanne.Stone ! It would be wonderful if the community could track your progress in this thread. Also looking forward to reading your Journal of Mammology paper.

- Rachel

@Suzanne.Stone have you had any success with your trials in Idaho?

This might be a silly question, but why do you need a camera trap for either purpose - unless you want a record of specific individuals?

If the aim is to provide an alarm to scare off elephants then a system that uses a simple motion sensor wired to an alarm would do the same thing at a much lower cost without the risk of damage or theft that all camera traps suffer from.

If the aim is to alert locals then the Indian Nature Conservation Foundations Elephant Early Warning System is worth exploring http://ncf-india.org/projects/in-the-elephant-hills 

Hi James,

Thanks for sharing information on NCF's early warning system. NCF's tool is great and works well for the context in Valparai where it's being used. We work closely with them as well. As you are aware, the context for each conflict situation is different. These are open plantation areas where elephants can be seen if present in any patch, while in other areas, it's harder to tell when they come out of forested protected areas and into adjacent habitation in order to warn people. And for a number of the landscapes where we work, that particular approach may not be as effective, we are trying to test other forms of early detection. Do let us know if you learn of any results from camera-trapping early warning systems as well using a tool that could potentially serve multiple purposes. Many thanks.

Nilanga