The Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary is uniquely positioned to save some of Australia’s most endangered animals.
With 662 acres of wetlands, woodlands, and granite outcrops, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s flagship sanctuary is a hotspot for biodiversity.
It’s also the perfect place for the AWC to test out their newest technology: the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Species Classifier Model.
Thanks to the 240,000 camera traps at its disposal, which have resulted in tens of millions of species images, the AWC is uniquely positioned to analyze and detect distinct animals.
“A dataset of, say, 1 million images can now be processed and classified in a matter of days, compared to the many months it would have taken previously,” Damien Keer, AWC’s chief information technology officer, said in a press statement.
“The model has already assisted in processing over 54 million camera trap images. We’ve now processed ~1 image every second of every day for the last year. Thirty million images in 12 months is an impressive economy of scale.”
So far, the technology has proven invaluable in cataloging countless native and invasive species — a tool that is critical in animal monitoring and conservation research.
“There are so many benefits of the network being designed and built in-house,” said Yezmin Assad, AWC’s networking and telecommunications specialist
“We’re able to upload data seamlessly from a variety of sources, program alerts tailored to the unique needs and priorities of each sanctuary and reduce our reliance on expensive third-party tracking services.”
With a long-term goal of indexing 120 species, the nonprofit has successfully tallied 102, from the critically endangered northern bluetongues in the Kimberley woodlands to the critically endangered bettongs in the Wet Tropics.
And the brush-tailed bettongs, or Woylies, were handpicked to be the “guinea pig” for the AI model’s latest application: a “SmartGate.”
The SmartGate is a double-gated enclosure tunnel within Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary that has been putting the Species Classifier Model to the test in real time.
Using the species recognition software, the gate only opens if it detects the small, rat-like marsupials. If an invasive species like a feral fox, cat, or pig tries to pass through, the gate will stay locked.
“Results from the trial have been very exciting, with up to 25 successful and safe Woylie transits, zero instances of non-target transits, and a range of learned lessons and improvements to be made for the planned Version 2 of the SmartGate,” Assad said.
To date, the SmartGate has only been tested with Woylies as its protected species, but local conservationists hope to implement it on a wider scale to ensure safe passage for Australia’s rarest critters.
“The SmartGate will refine the way scientists and land managers work on the front line of the extinction crisis,” Kerr said.
“It has enormous potential for integration within AWC’s network of sanctuaries, and offers an exciting glimpse into the future of conservation.”
Header image via Australian Wildlife Conservancy
