Solutions · Livestock

Livestock theft camera for kraals, bomas and pens

A livestock theft camera has one job: tell you the moment people come near your animals at night, and keep a clear record of it. Here is how to set solar 4G cameras up for that, on farms with no power or Wi-Fi.

How livestock theft usually happens

Cattle, goats and sheep are usually taken at night, from an enclosure close to a gate or a road, and loaded onto a vehicle or walked out through a gap in the fence. That gives a camera three useful places to watch: the enclosure, the exit route and the loading point. A camera that only shows the enclosure tells you animals are gone; one that sees the gate shows who took them and how.

Camera set-up for a livestock enclosure

1. Gate or exit route: dual-lens camera.The SV-D2 keeps the gate in its fixed lens all night while the second lens can follow people into the enclosure.
2. Enclosure: PTZ camera with lights.The SV-P1 covers the pen and switches on its white LEDs on human detection, giving colour pictures instead of grey infrared.
3. Grazing land and water points: trail camera.Far from the house, the camouflaged SV-H1 4G trail camera straps to a tree or post, wakes on its 25 m PIR sensor and sends a photo to your phone. Its AI animal detection also shows predators at the boma.
4. Alerts to more than one phone.Share the device in the app with a family member or herder so someone always sees the alert.

Night vision, lights and sirens

Infrared night vision works without visible light but gives a grey picture that makes clothing and vehicle colours hard to tell. Spotlights on human detection give a colour clip and also show the intruder they have been seen. A siren adds to that. Use both near the house; far from the house, some farmers prefer a silent alert so they can call for help without warning the thieves. You can set each camera separately in the app.

Evidence that is useful later

• Record to the SD card continuously on motion, and enable cloud backup for the gate camera in case the camera itself is taken.
• Keep the date and time correct in the app; check after any long power loss.
• Download clips the same day and share them with the police with the farm location.
• Point at least one camera at the road or track a vehicle would use, at a height that reads number plates.

Safety first

A camera is a warning and a record, not protection. Do not go out to confront armed thieves because a camera alerted you; call for help and stay safe. Talk-back through the camera is useful to warn people off, not to start a confrontation.

For gates, pumps and stores see the full solar camera for farm security layout, and for networks and prices see Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Back to the solar 4G camera range.