Source: RoFra
The Saguaro cactus is a popular target for thieves - to remove this magnificent specimen, however, they would need a flatbed truck.
One of the main attractions at the Saguaro National Park in the US State of Arizona is the large number of cacti of the Carnegiea gigantean species – also known as Saguaro. According to a census in 2000, the area of the National Park in the Sonoran Desert is home to about 1.3 million Saguaro cacti which can reach a height of up to 15 metres, weigh several tons and live for more than 200 years.
Every year, several hundred thousand visitors come to the Saguaro National Park, which offers abundant flora and fauna despite its desert climate. Unfortunately, there are uninvited guests among them who don't just enjoy the park's natural beauty but secretly also bag Saguaro cacti worth $1000 and more on the black market. The thieves usually target smaller specimens, which can be removed on a pickup truck once the widespread root system has been unearthed.
"Everyone wants a Saguaro cactus in their front garden", explains Jim McGinnis, who has taken over the special role of "cactus police" at the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Sometimes three to five plants are taken away in one visit, but sometimes the thieves come with heavy machinery and take 15 plants, he says. But that's soon to be a thing of the past: The park's management has announced that it intends to implant the cacti with RFID chips.
The role model for the decision is a project at Arizona's Lake Mead National Recreation Area which also suffered cactus theft and already implanted its prickly inhabitants, the Barrel cacti, with electronic chips years ago. Apparently successfully: reports state that the number of thefts has declined considerably. Stock-taking at the nature reserve has also become easier, says the park's management.
Now, the Department of Agriculture's new chipping project has one primary aim: deterrence. Potential cactus thieves face detection of their illegal cargo by automatic scanners when they leave the park. And since every plant has an individual RFID code, a scanner can also reveal the origin of the cactus at the dealer's or after the cactus has been planted in the garden at home. The Saguaro National Park plans to use passive transponders which only send data when in the vicinity of a data reader.
However, the next step is to conduct extensive studies to ensure that the Saguaro cacti and their environment aren't damaged by the hardware and radio technology. The material costs are up to $4.50 per chip and $500–$2,500 per scanner. Additional costs are incurred when tagging the plants, which like pet tags are implanted using a syringe, and for the staff who operate the scanners.
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