Thermal

Thermal detects emitted heat rather than amplifying light, which means it works in total darkness, through smoke and light foliage, and in daylight. That is fundamentally different from night vision, which needs some ambient light to amplify and is defeated by full dark.

Detection is far easier than identification. A thermal unit will show you that something warm is out there long before it shows you what species it is, and the specification that governs the difference is sensor resolution and thermal sensitivity rather than magnification. Digital zoom on a low-resolution sensor makes a bigger blurry blob, not more information. Export rules apply to thermal equipment, so it does not leave the country.