Researchers reveal novel AI-based camera alert system to promote coexistence between tigers and humans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

 

IMAGE: THE TRAILGUARD AI CAMERA SYSTEM (LEFT, US QUARTER FOR SCALE) CAN BE WELL CAMOUFLAGED NEAR A TRAIL SUCH AS THIS ONE IN DUDHWA TIGER RESERVE, AS SEEN FROM THE TRAIL, THAT SENT MULTIPLE REAL-TIME NOTIFICATIONS OF POACHERS WITHOUT BEING DETECTED (RIGHT). view more 

CREDIT: TRAILGUARD AI

For decades, wildlife biologists have dreamt of a “smart” camera alerting system capable of detecting tigers and other endangered species on the prowl. Legacy camera-trap technology, while valuable for many research applications, has historically been hindered by false positives and an inability to facilitate rapid responses.

            Writing in BioScience, Jeremy Dertien of Clemson University and colleagues announce that for the first time ever, wild tigers and elephants have been detected by an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, cryptic camera-alert system, TrailGuard AI, that transmits images to the cell phones and computers of park managers and other concerned entities in real time.

            The technology, originally developed to detect poachers, limits false positives, and its fast alert times permit "park managers the chance for rapid response to intrusion by poachers or to alert villagers to the nearby presence of tigers," according to the authors. Dertien and colleagues describe the first months of field deployment in India during the monsoon period of 2022, when TrailGuard AI was immediately useful in detecting tigers moving close to villages and using the same trails as wildlife poachers.

            Such technology is expected to be a valuable tool in mitigating human–wildlife conflict and furthering conservation efforts, report the authors. However, cautions coauthor Hrishita Negi, “integrating communities is essential for coexistence to work." Efforts are under way to educate those who may use the system and foster greater uptake of this and other valuable technologies.

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This work was supported by the Global Tiger Forum, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Clemson University, and the nongovernmental organization RESOLVE.

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JOURNAL

BioScience

DOI

10.1093/biosci/biad076/7261057 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Mitigating human–wildlife conflict and monitoring endangered tigers using a real-time camera-based alert system

The Tyger 

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 

In the forests of the night; 

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies. 

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat.

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp.

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears 

And water'd heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Blake, William. "The Tyger." ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Songs of Experience. ​​​​​​​Facsimile reproduction of the 1794 illuminated manuscript, published by The William Blake Trust and the Tate Gallery, 2009, in ​​​​​​​William Blake: The Complete Illuminated Books.