Captain Pete Bethune

Dogs, Drones & Kiwi Conservationists Are Saving Costa Rica’s Wildlife

By Caryn B. Davis / Photos Courtesy of Earthrace

Captain Pete Bethune and his crew are accompanied by 3 armed rangers from MINAE, the Ministry of Environment and Energy in Costa Rica. They are in a 4.7-meter inflatable zodiac racing towards a yacht illegally fishing near Cano Island, a biological marine reserve. Utilizing a $4 million CAMCOPTER® S-100 drone, Bethune gathered footage of the unlawful activity prior to boarding the vessel. Recorded evidence is effective especially when the offenders refute the violation. The captain of the American vessel pleads ignorance, claiming he had no knowledge Cano Island was a reserve. He is let off with a warning, although the rangers did have the jurisdiction to make an arrest or confiscate the gear or boat.

“We don’t want to put people in prison, we just want them to stop. Once they realize they are being inspected by drones, word gets around, and we see fewer people taking these chances,” Bethune says.

Bethune is living and working onboard a 43.2-meter, converted World War II era U.S. Navy ship. He has refitted it to accommodate the drone which requires a 10x10 meter landing pad, and the other equipment he uses in his work with Earthrace Conservation, a non-profit organization he founded to save animals and habitats worldwide. He undertakes missions globally always partnering with local authorities like MINAE, the institution responsible for the welfare of Costa Rica’s national parks and wildlife refuges.

The Modoc has been anchored in Golfito Bay since January 2020. With the onset of covid, Bethune was invited to remain in port by Carlos Manual Rodriguez, the country’s former Environment and Energy Minister, to assist with their fishery and jungle patrols. He met Rodriguez in 2013 when he was in Costa Rica filming episodes for his television show The Operatives, which aired in 90 countries and followed his team of military veterans and civilian specialists apprehending environmental criminals.

Bethune signed a $0 agreement, so he offers his services in illegal fishing, poaching, gold mining, logging and farming, as a volunteer. He provides the use of his ship, two small inflatable vessels, a K9 tracking unit, the drone, food and onboard housing for the rangers, and fuel. This collaboration gives the national park authority access to technology and resources they wouldn’t have otherwise, especially as the government struggles to regain financial footing after the pandemic.

“There is no way Costa Rica could justify a $4 million drone for patrols. The drone is sponsored by Scheibel, the manufacturer, so it doesn’t cost me anything. With it I can provide an extremely valuable service,” says Bethune.

“We’ve got people cutting trees and dragging them out. Others chop them down to build houses and start living and hunting in the park,”

Bethune and his team use the drone, camera and acoustic traps, and a Belgian Malinois dog trained specifically for tracking and anti-poaching by the organization “Animals Saving Animals”. Historically, national parks were patrolled by men on foot carrying firearms so these tools are game changers when it comes to locating illicit activity within a vast jungle. The cameras were donated by the U.S. Embassy for use in the Corcovado National Park to surveil drug trafficking, but they also work well for gathering intelligence on the conservation side, so it has become a joint effort.

The number one illegal activity in the Corcovado is gold mining. It erodes the creek beds and impacts wildlife. Sometimes the miners use toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury to separate the gold from the silt. But it doesn’t end there. There is only so much food the miners can carry in and when that runs out, they shoot the protected animals. Poaching, illegal logging and farming within the park boundary are also problematic.

“We’ve got people cutting trees and dragging them out. Others chop them down to build houses and start living and hunting in the park,” Bethune says.

The cameras are set up throughout the jungle and when a trap is triggered, the images appear on a computer at the ranger station and onboard the ship when networked, providing real time data. The team then decides to keep monitoring the situation or head into the Corcovado with the tracking dog which is also trained to physically hold a suspect.

“Often the most dangerous time is when you first come across a poacher. They are likely to pull a gun, a knife, or a machete, but the dog generally calms things down. They don’t know what the behavior of dog will be. They might be prepared to take on a ranger but not a dog,” explains Bethune.

A lot of people also get caught when the drone picks up a heat signature from campfires in areas where no camping is allowed, and within parts of the park reserved for animals.

The acoustic traps were purchased by OSA Conservation, and donated to Earthrace. They pick up audio from gunshots, generators, vehicles, etc., within a 3-kilometer range to pinpoint the position of the activity more accurately.

“ You haven’t lived until you’ve found a cause worth dying for. My cause is saving wildlife. I know one day it may take my life. I am OK with that.

My life has real meaning,”

Bethune’s entree into conservation was in 2006. After selling his house in New Zealand, he designed and built a high-tech boat powered solely by biodiesel to prove its viability as an alternative fuel source. Earthrace broke the world record for a circumnavigation with biofuel in 2008, visited 186 cities, hosted tours for over 250,000 people. But Bethune became disillusioned as forests and habitats were destroyed to plant palm trees to produce palm oil.

In 2009, he partnered with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Earthrace was purchased by conservationist Ady Gil with the stipulation that Bethune captain the ship in Antarctica to protest Japanese whaling. The vessel was rammed by the Japanese boat, Shonan Maru 2, and scuttled. Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru 2 to present the captain with a bill for the damage but was arrested and jailed in a Japanese prison. His arrest gained media attention, changing the whaling narrative. The Japanese were ordered to cease whaling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

While the experience was horrific, it did change Bethune’s mind about conservation work, as dangerous and as unpredictable as it is. Since then, he has run campaigns worldwide, saving seals from clubbings in Namibia; closing 2 wildlife smuggling rings of forest turtles and pangolins in Asia; stopping illegal fishing in Palawan, recusing pink dolphins from being killed for meat in the Peruvian Amazon, saving endangered red monkeys from the illegal pet trade in the Amazon, shutting down 2 gold mining operations in Costa Rica, and much more, all while dogging bullets, almost dying from a poisonous snake bite, and nearly being stabbed to death. Still, he persists.

“Our campaigns take us to difficult places. We take on criminal gangs that are morally bankrupt with deep pockets. But this is the cause we choose to fight for, and we know the risks. You haven’t lived until you’ve found a cause worth dying for. My cause is saving wildlife. I know one day it may take my life. I am OK with that. My life has real meaning,” Bethune says.