When night falls over the Kruger National Park a drone is launched to hover over the 2 million hectare game reserve.
Denel, which once helped South Africa break apartheid sanctions as Armcorp, has supplied a Seeker 2 to undertake the job.
A well-informed South African website, defenceWeb, reports that two Denel Dynamics employee spent time in Kruger flying the drone.
They told defenceWeb that the Seeker 2 was only flown at night.
“Daytime aerial surveillance is done by manned aircraft, both fixed and rotary-winged, and the Seeker with its infrared ability comes into its own during the hours of darkness,” one said.
Because of the sensitive nature of their work, neither was prepared to be named or elaborate on exactly where in Kruger the Seeker had achieved results.
“It works as advertised,” was their only comment.
Drones saving rhino
This is not the first time drones have been reportedly used to fight poaching.
In December last year it was reported that farmers were planning to use the unarmed vehicles.
But these were American Arcturus T-20 drones.
Now Denel is getting in on the act.
Martin Plaut 