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When wild elephants move around in India in search of food, they often cross railway tracks that cut through their habitats. Collisions with trains are the second most common cause of unnatural death there. According to official information, at least 50 animals have died in this way in the past four years. Monitoring and warning systems with artificial intelligence are now intended to better protect the animals on the subcontinent.
The Indian Railways, for example, are currently installing technology and cables along tracks in the northeast that will allow vibrations caused by elephant footsteps to be detected within a five-meter radius. Messages are then sent to a mobile phone app and a control room. Approaching trains can be automatically warned so that they slow down or stop. A different system is being tested in the south of the country.
Help evaluating photos
Artificial intelligence for animal protection – such ideas are not just in India, but in many countries around the world, says ecologist Arnulf Köhncke, head of species protection at the environmental organization WWF Germany. AI is used particularly frequently to evaluate images, explains the expert on the occasion of World Animal Protection Day on October 4th. “We want to know how many animals of a species live somewhere.” To do this, you have to set up camera traps, count animals in the photos and evaluate the data statistically – “without support it takes a long time.”
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Because the cameras take countless photos. “The AI helps to determine what is an animal in the photos and what is not.” In this way, the huge amounts of data could be handled better, says Köhncke. The AI can also recognize which species can be seen in the photos – and sometimes even which individual animals. “In cats like tigers and leopards, she can identify individuals by their stripes and spots.”
Recognize the number of animals and behavior
Even zebras, giraffes, whales and dolphins have patterns or fins that are unique and can be deciphered. “If you can recognize the animals individually, you can use statistical models to calculate how many animals of this species there are in the area,” explains the expert.
WWF Germany started such a project in August together with the IBM company in Central Africa: Forest elephants are to be observed and counted there. In such projects, AI not only helps to analyze the amounts of data. It can also recognize behavioral patterns and make precise predictions.
Evaluate microphone and satellite recordings with AI
Other AI approaches are audio-based, Köhncke continues. This makes a lot of sense, especially in large forest systems in Africa, Asia or Latin America, because you can’t see far there. Some programs could recognize bird calls and thus help to map animal species. Experts can even draw conclusions from the noise of chainsaws – namely where forests are being cut down. And shots pointed to poachers.
Monitoring can also be carried out from space. Köhncke says that satellite photos can quickly show where the fire is. “It is also possible to record the movement of vultures using satellite evaluation.” This way you can see where a dead animal is lying – this could also be an indication of poaching. “More and more things are being developed,” sums up Köhncke.
The Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research in Bremen recently reported on using AI to look into the depths. Two species of surgeonfish have been observed in coral reefs in the Red Sea. The fish’s movements were recorded in three dimensions as they searched for food. This enabled the researchers to better understand the marine ecosystem – which is important for developing protective measures for the reefs.
Automatic alerts when tigers or elephants come
In India, experts are also thinking about how to prevent encounters between people and potentially dangerous wild animals. Because people die again and again when they encounter elephants, tigers or leopards. The chief conservator of forests in Uttarakhand, northern India, Sameer Sinha, tells the dpa that camera traps with AI technology are now being used in his state.
The cameras had Internet capability, allowing images to be transmitted to a computer server in real time. If such animals come near villages, warnings are automatically generated. The forestry department then informs the villagers and sets up response teams that can intervene. The only problem so far with the application, says Sinha: There is not always good internet in the area.
Can you tell which of these images are AI generated?
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