Conservationists have begun using satellite imagery to count elephants from space, a method British experts hope will help protect populations in Africa.
Researchers at Oxford University and the University of Bath said the use of algorithms, machine learning, and satellite technology could replace the conventional methods used for counting elephants – an essential aspect of conservation.
“The number of African elephants has fallen over the last century as a result of poaching, retaliatory killing from crop predation and habitat breakdown,” Oxford said in a statement.
“To preserve them we need to know where they are, and how many there are: proper inspection is essential. “
Currently, the most common method for studying elephant populations in savannah environments is air counting from crew aircraft.
Academics said air inspectors can get involved, and are sometimes hampered by poor eyesight.
“Satellite scanning is a non-invasive method that does not require a presence on the ground, thus eliminating the risk of disturbing species, or compromising human safety when we collect data, “they said.
“A process that would have previously taken months can be completed within a few hours.”
The scientists first developed the techniques at South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park.
An example of seeing an elephant. (Duporge et al., Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 2020 / (c) 2020 Maxar Technologies)
The images, from a satellite orbiting 600 kilometers (approximately 370 miles) above the Earth, could survey up to 5,000 square kilometers (nearly 2,000 square miles) of land in a single pass, on capture in a few minutes.
The scientists trained the algorithm to identify only adults among a data set of 1,000 elephants in the park and then discovered that it was able to identify calves.
They hope that such conservation technologies will be adopted as a matter of urgency to protect the world’s biodiversity.
© Agence France-Presse