By the end of 2021, a party of nocturnal poachers in a national park in Mozambique who had been using torches to blind antelopes were the only ones left standing in the pitch black. The poachers, who are local opportunists searching for bushmeat in the savannahs, woodlands, and marshes of the region, frequently have the ability to kill hundreds of animals in a single hunt with little to no repercussions. They also use dogs to trace and kill their prey. They can hear the overworked rangers’ noisy petrol motorbikes from more than a mile away, giving them the confidence to move confidently. This allows them to not only flee but also to know where the park’s guardians are and hunt around them—easy enough to do in the thousands of square miles of terrain.
No, not now. The search was abruptly stopped when a group of rangers riding off-road bikes rode up. The bike’s nearly silent motor, which can make them more likely to be involved in accidents in crowded cities, has emerged as the unexpected hidden weapon for protecting the most vulnerable species on the planet.
“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 one in Mozambique. (The exact locations where they are using the bikes are 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—sun, 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 bike, 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.
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