Thwarting poachers with data [Spectral Lines

Abstract

Our Toyota truck burst through the dense jungle and into a clearing. Before us stood two startled men with rifles. Their wives, nearby, brandished machetes. Piles of dead animals were stacked high on two bicycles. We had found our illegal hunters. In an instant, the soldier sitting next to me raised his pistol. I feared a shootout, but the bush hunters lowered their weapons and began to plead with the soldier in a shared language. Quickly a deal was struck: The hunters got to escape with their wives and pillage, while we got the prize we sought, a newborn chimpanzee.