Traditionally, industrial thermal imagers have found application in manufacturing and other heavy industries. It is, however, unusual to find one bouncing about on the back of an open Land Rover on the prowl for lions.
Having seen the advantages of IR thermography in industry, R&C Instrumentation decided to investigate its usefulness in tracking down elusive night-time predators. The Ti30 and Ti20 imagers made their debut in Phinda game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal, where it did not take long to amass a keen following especially amongst the rangers and trackers. Even rangers who have spent most of their life in the bush have a few things to learn from thermal imaging, according to R&C.
The team decided that the best time for thermal game spotting was probably going to be a late evening or early morning game drive. This would provide the maximum contrast between the warm blooded animals and the cold land surfaces. As expected due to the high temperatures during the day the animals faded into their surroundings.
An impressive demonstration of the heat sensitivity of the camera was its ability to pick up the moon reflecting off a waterhole and with animal life at the watering hole the images were spectacular.
Towards the end of the final night game drive the team picked up the heat signature of a large male lion with a female lying next to it in thick grass. Something no other vehicles or trackers had picked up driving by. Much amusement was caused by the amazed looks on the faces of the trackers when they discovered this bunch of city dwellers had night vision. After a little persuasion the Land Rover was turned until the lions were illuminated by the spotlight. Disturbed by the light the lions became angry. Hearing and seeing a fully grown male lion roaring two metres from the vehicle proved a fitting finale to this thoroughly enjoyable experiment.
All images were provided courtesy of R&C Instrumentation.
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