“Think of it as Pokemon Go, but where the animals are real animals, and where they move around a city based on their actual movements, not where we tell them to go,” says Gautam Shah, founder of Internet of Elephants, a US and Kenya-based start up, making  Safari Central.

Shah says the game is the first to use real tracking data. They have data on elephants, lions, grizzly bears, jaguars, wolves, giant anteaters, frigate birds, vultures and other animals from organizations like WWF Brazil, Conservation International in the US, the Chicago Zoological Society, as well as conservation groups and parks based in Kenya and South Africa.

The goal is to connect more people with the daily lives of animals and raise support for conservation efforts. “Conventional fundraising approaches are not reaching enough people or raising enough funds to turn the tide,” the company said in a press release. African forest elephants, for example, will need 100 years to recover losses in the species over just the last decade.

Players track real animals in the augmented reality mobile game, Safari Central.
Players track real animals in the augmented reality mobile game, Safari Central.
Image: Internet of Elephants
Mobile game Safari Central uses GPS data from real animals.
Mobile game Safari Central uses GPS data from real animals.
Image: Internet of Elephants

The startup, which is currently holding a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the game, plans to release a preview of the app in August and a full launch in December of 2018.

Shah is exploring other ways to gamify the data. The movement of the animals can act as a randomizer, dictating what happens in the game, in the same way a roll of the dice affects a game like Monopoly or Settlers of Catan. “This is just the first game. There are many other ways that the data can be used,” Shah says.

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