Zoe Jewell was working in Zimbabwe in the 1990s when a harsh reality dawned on her. The female black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) she was helping monitor were suffering from a loss in fertility after they were chased to be collared. Later, when she and a colleague brought it up with the local trackers who accompanied them, they broke out in laughter. Their advice: ditch the radio collars and track footprints instead. The pair took that advice to heart and got to work. Years, and many trials and experiments, later, they now work to help people and organizations around the world identify animals by using pictures of their footprints. North Carolina-based nonprofit WildTrack has developed tools that measure and analyze footprints of animals to identify the species. They’ve also developed an artificial intelligence model that can identify 17 species, including rhinos, lions (Panthera leo) and leopards (Panthera pardus). “If you look down, there’s a wealth of information,” Jewell said. “They’re just waiting to be picked up.” The technology is being used for a wide array of applications. In California, WildTrack is working with the U.S. Forest Service to identify the habitat and breeding range of the weasel-like fisher (Pekania pennanti), carnivorous mammals native to the boreal forests of the U.S. and Canada. In Botswana, they’re focused on identifying the movement patterns of rhinos to protect them from poaching. The technology is also being used to understand human-wildlife conflict in Brazil and other countries in South America. Jewell said her team at…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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South Africa Today – Environment
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