Feb. 6, 2006 — The WWF conservation group has embarked on a hi-tech project to save endangered Sumatran rhinos in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Perak, officials said last week.

"High technology will be used to monitor the habitat and a survey will be carried out to gather biological data," said Raymond Alfred, WWF project manager for the Asian Rhinos and Elephants Action Strategy.

"Infrared camera traps would be used in the jungles to monitor or capture the movements of rhinos in the area," Alfred told AFP.

The five-year rhino conservation project, launched last week, will be known as "Rhino Rescue."

A team, set up with help from local wildlife authorities, will conduct daily patrols to record rhino footprints, which will then be identified using special software, Alfred said.

Remote sensing devices and satellite images will also be used to detect encroachment or illegal logging in the dense jungles, he said.

The team is based in the Belum forest in northern Perak state and around the Kinabatangan area in Sabah on eastern Borneo to deter would-be poachers. The data compiled will be used to draft recommendations to be included in government forest management plans, he said.

WWF estimates that the number of Sumatran rhinos, considered endangered animals, has declined by half due to poaching over the last 10 years.

It is believed that fewer than 300 Sumatran rhinos exist in the world, with the last significant groups in Malaysia and Indonesia.