Instant Detect

Protect wildlife faster, smarter, anywhere — AI camera traps that send images via satellite, in near-real-time.

Get in touch How it works
Instant Detect
The problem

Conservationists deploy camera traps deep in the field, then come back weeks or months later to retrieve them — only to find equipment damaged, stolen, or filled with months of irrelevant images. By the time data reaches a researcher's laptop, the moment to act has already passed.

What it does

Instant Detect is a wildlife, environment and threat monitoring system designed specifically for conservationists and wildlife rangers. Cameras and sensors are deployed across a site and form a local LoRa radio network. A single Base Station relays all data via Iridium satellite to the cloud — so even from somewhere truly remote, images and alerts reach you the same day.

On-device AI: the unique advantage

Each Instant Detect camera runs species-recognition AI directly on the device. That sounds technical, but the practical impact is huge: instead of sending every snapshot to the cloud (and your inbox), the camera understands what it’s looking at, on the spot, and only forwards what matters.

In practice this means you can:

  • Get alerts only when a specific species appears — elephants, hippos, brown bears, whatever you’re tracking
  • Filter out everything except human activity — turning the camera into a silent anti-poaching sensor
  • Keep satellite bandwidth (and your team’s attention) focused on signal, not noise

This is unusual in the camera-trap category — most systems either don’t run AI, or only do it server-side after the fact. Instant Detect’s on-device intelligence is what makes the rest of the system viable in the field.

Why this exists

Traditional camera traps are great at capturing wildlife — and bad at telling anyone about it. Researchers leave them in the field for weeks, retrieve them, and only then learn what they captured. By that time, a poaching incident is long over, an injured animal has moved on, and an opportunity to act has been lost.

Instant Detect was built around a simple idea: get the right image to the right person, fast. Not a livestream of useless triggers — just the few that actually matter, delivered in near-real-time.

A history rooted in conservation science

Instant Detect was originally developed by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) between 2016 and 2023, in close collaboration with rangers and field scientists. In 2025 stewardship of the platform transferred to Hack The Planet, where we continue to evolve and deploy it for partners around the world.

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Built for the unreachable

Cameras and sensors form a local network. A single Base Station relays everything to the cloud over satellite — even from places without a cell tower for hundreds of kilometres.

On-device AI

Each camera runs AI species recognition locally — identifying animals (or humans) in real time, on the device itself. Uniquely powerful and rare in this category.

Smart filtering

Tell the system which species you care about. Only get alerts for elephants, or only for human presence (anti-poaching) — instead of being buried under thousands of irrelevant frames.

Real-time imaging

Captures and transmits images in near-real-time, motion-triggered via built-in PIR sensors.

Affordable satellite link

Iridium connectivity from the Base Station — works anywhere on the planet, including jungles, deserts and Antarctic regions.

Long-range LoRa network

Cameras and sensors talk to each other over LoRa, so only the Base Station needs satellite — keeping costs down.

Rucksack portable

Lightweight enough to pack in. No fixed infrastructure, no construction needed at the site.

Cloud platform

Manage devices, view images and configure alerts from any browser via Instant Detect Cloud.

Rugged & low-maintenance

Dust- and waterproof, extreme-temperature tolerant, designed for months of unattended operation.

Why Instant Detect

There are plenty of camera traps. Here's what sets Instant Detect apart.

01

On-device AI, not server-side

Each camera identifies species in real time, on the unit itself. Combined with smart filtering, you stop drowning in irrelevant images and only see what you actually care about.

02

Real-time, not retrospective

Most camera traps are retrieval-based. Instant Detect is the rare system that actually reaches you the moment something happens.

03

Built by conservationists for conservationists

Originally developed at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) over 7 years with researchers and rangers. Every feature exists because someone in the field asked for it.

Projects using Instant Detect

Real-world deployments where Instant Detect is making an impact.

Real-time rainforest biodiversity monitoring
Lopé NP, Gabon · 2021

Real-time rainforest biodiversity monitoring

AI camera traps with satellite connectivity giving researchers real-time insight into the rainforest. The pilot that became Instant Detect.
Keeping brown bears out of mountain villages
Carpathian Mountains, Romania · 2023

Keeping brown bears out of mountain villages

15 AI cameras and 15 Smart Deterrents to keep brown bears out of mountain villages — without harming them.
Keeping elephants out of villages without harm
Kafue NP, Zambia · 2023

Keeping elephants out of villages without harm

Preventing dangerous encounters between elephants and nearby villages with AI detection and non-lethal deterrents.
All projects using Instant Detect →

Bring Instant Detect to your conservation work

We work with parks, NGOs and research institutions to deploy Instant Detect where it can make the biggest difference. Tell us what you're trying to monitor.

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