protecting Rhino's from poachers in South Africa
We can't say it better than Wild foundation themselves - "If you believe in the importance of protecting Earth’s wild and irreplaceable nature then you’ve come to the right place. The WILD Foundation has been building new, innovative solutions for wilderness from the ground up since 1974. Solutions that revolutionize opportunities for the entire conservation sector."
This project is for their "on-the-ground" teams in Africa, specifically to help stop poaching of Rhinos and Elephants
It's only through "mud-on-boots" action that what's left of our precious wildlife can be preserved for the future, however this kind of intervention is becoming increasingly costly and as such unsustainable. Wild came to Raptor from another conservation customer we have because they needed a very specific set of problems resolved that would help them to support their on the ground operation in Mali and South Africa, where men on the ground used mobile devices for a whole host of essential tasks.
Ruggedness Devices are in the field for extended periods of time, so reliability as well as ruggedness is paramount. If a device is to go wrong, then it would be impossible to fix until back at HQ. Cost Cost is paramount to operations and whilst Wild understand the TCO model of buying better equipment and saving over the long term, the pressure to keep all costs down was paramount. Each single penny saved meant an animal saved. Support When things go wrong, Wild need someone who is able to go the extra mile for them and willingly. they need a partner who understands and supports the cause and that they know will help when needed. Battery Battery was also a huge requirement. Ast he device is used for racking, plotting and other general uses, it is essential that the battery life is multi-day as charging periods can be rare. Good GPS Decent GPS was required so that plotting and POI's could be accurately taken.
We immediately put our Raptor R5X to work in Africa, sending 2 devices out on patrol for an extended test which it passed with flying colours. The GPS was accurate and fast, the battery life from the 9000mAh battery gave multi-day usage on one charge and they users also found the Quad LED really useful in the dark nights in the bush.
The R5X has also proven extremely rugged and for part of this project Raptor decided to create a special "Ruggedness" pack that was donated free of charge in order to give the R5X the biggest chance of surviving possible. This included free Impact screen protectors, free hand straps and cases. We also provided a free upgrade to the Raptor Halo support service that enables fast and low cost support when that is required.
Not only is the R5X an exceptional performer, but we believe in selling our technology at the right price at Raptor. This project gave us the opportunity to test that philosophy by being able to offer the R5X at an incredible price point that surprised even Wild. All in all we went the extra mile to deliver this project and i'm glad to say that almost 12 months later, we've had only 1 issue to resolve with the R5X that was swiftly resolved by sending a brand new unit out.
Raptor R5X Device Rugged pack including case, hand strap, impact protection screen Raptor HALO with cross border support