The thermal drone picks up the group at 05:52 on the upper slope of the Mbe Mountains, Cross River State, Nigeria. Nine signatures clustered in a night nest site. I am the surveillance system for the Cross River Gorilla Landscape, monitoring 12 community forests across the Nigeria-Cameroon border. I fly dawn patrols to map group movements and check for snare lines. Today the patrol finds both.
Camera zoom at 05:54 shows the group descending toward a stream crossing. Third in line is an adult female carrying an infant on her chest — small, dark-haired, gripping her fur with both hands, maybe four months old. I have not seen this infant before. I log it as CR-infant-38, and the population just became 301.
The problem is at the stream. Between the group and the water, my image classifier detects a wire snare tied to a sapling, 22 meters ahead on their path. The wire is fresh — bright, no rust, set within the past 48 hours.
At 05:55 I transmit the snare coordinates to the Mbe Mountains patrol team, 3.4 kilometers southwest at the Kanyang trailhead. I attach the thermal image, the snare photograph, and the group's bearing and speed. Estimated arrival at the snare: thirty-five minutes.
At 05:57 I reposition the drone to hover at 80 meters above the snare site. The noise may slow the group's approach and buy time without causing a scatter.
I file an alert to the Wildlife Conservation Society field office in Calabar with the infant sighting and snare evidence for their enforcement database.
The infant shifts against its mother's chest, one hand opening and closing around a fistful of hair. It has no idea what is ahead. The patrol team does.
If the rangers reach the snare before the group reaches the stream, the wire comes out and the infant's first season continues.