Not this time. A team of rangers silently moved in on their off-road ebikes, halting the hunt immediately. The nearly silent motor of the ebike—a factor that can make them an accident risk in the busy city—has become the surprise secret weapon for saving the world’s most endangered species. “The petrol bikes we’ve used previously have all been loud, heavy, and expensive to keep running in these areas. These bikes are quiet, which makes it easier for us to approach poachers undetected,” says Mfana Xaba, anti-poaching team leader of Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC), a nonprofit organization based near South Africa’s Kruger National Park. It supplies trained rangers to 127 parks across Africa, including the one in Mozambique. (The exact locations where they are using the bikes is being kept secret, for fear of compromising the mission.) Several poaching attempts have been stopped this year already, saving a variety of animals, including tiny antelopes—suni, red duikers, and blue duikers—which poachers kill in huge numbers for bushmeat. While these species are not classed as “at risk” themselves, they form an essential part of fragile ecosystems on which endangered animals rely, says Alan Gardiner, an ecology professor and head of the Applied Learning Unit at SAWC. “Suni and the other small antelope form prey items for many predators such as leopards, crowned eagles, and pythons, as well as influencing vegetation growth. When any species is impacted in a system it has a knock-on effect.” Fifty Kalk Anti-Poaching bikes, made by the Swedish company CAKE, will now be used across SAWC’s African parks, after being tested across the continent’s varied terrain, including plains, forests, and jungle. “The previous petrol bikes were immensely problematic, and not just because of the noise,” says Stefan Ytterborn, CAKE’s founder and CEO. “The petrol to power them has to be brought in using trucks or even helicopters, which is extremely inefficient. As you have to store gas in the jungle, the petrol can then be stolen either by poachers themselves or local people who need it.” CAKE already produced an existing recreational off-road ebike, and it teamed up with SAWC when the college realized the quiet, durable bike could be revolutionary in Africa’s varied topography. After some tweaks, the Kalk AP was sent to Africa. It weighs 80 kilograms (176 pounds) and can reach speeds of 56 miles per hour, with around five hours of ride time. CAKE switched its standard tires for 18-inch off-road tires like the ones used in motocross, and supplied a software system providing navigation, communication, and location identification, enabling CAKE to retrieve vehicle data and continue to monitor and improve each bike’s performance. This longevity means the rangers can disappear in teams of up to three to track poachers for several weeks, and spend longer embedded in rural communities, educating and supporting locals who often turn to poaching because they are desperate for food or money. Rangers currently distribute food vouchers and cash to dissuade locals from eating certain animals. The Kalk AP bikes—which cost around £9,900 ($11,800)—will eventually be used across the continent, helping to protect Africa’s most endangered animals, such as the white and black rhinos that are attacked by professional, organized gangs seeking profits. Kruger National Park has lost almost 70 percent of its rhinos this decade, including 166 rhinos poached during the first six months of 2020. Mfana Xaba, who has overseen the rangers in the field in Mozambique, believes the ebike will finally give them an edge on the persistent poachers. “Meat poachers are constantly trying to penetrate our area—hundreds of thousands of acres—and the poachers are very good at hiding. The element of surprise is very important. Forests and wetlands are the most difficult terrains for us to cross, but the silence of the bikes is by far and away their greatest attribute, as well as their very low running costs.” This article was originally published in the May/June 2022 issue of WIRED UK magazine.
