Andy Lee - New technologies to proactively prevent human-wildlife conflict

Описание: New technologies to proactively prevent human-wildlife conflict

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is one of the major drivers of global population declines for large carnivores and mega-herbivores during the past two decades. Livestock depredation and crop raiding by wildlife threaten community livelihoods and safety, and often prompt retaliatory killings of endangered wildlife. Preventing conflict is a priority over damage mitigation and compensation, yet current solutions lack the technological ability to reliably detect wildlife approaching human settlements and avert potential conflict situations before they occur. To address this gap, WildTech is now manufacturing a new low-cost and effective alerting technology, TrailGuard AI. This real-time, camera-based alarm system is designed to prevent livestock depredation or crop losses. Placed around the edge of corrals, crop fields, buffer zones, or community areas, TrailGuard AI uses on-the-edge AI to visually detect approaching targeted species and transmits alerts in less than 30 seconds before conflict occurs. In areas lacking reliable cell connectivity, transmission times are slightly longer. The system was deployed in India in 2022, detecting tigers, leopards, and wild elephants and successfully preventing conflicts by transmitting early warnings to the communities. TrailGuard AI presents a non-invasive alternative to situations where collaring conflict-prone wildlife is costly and challenging to acquire permits for capture of more than a few individuals. In collaboration with Intel and CVEDIA, species detection models for lions, snow leopards, bears, and wolves—essentially all major predators—are also available to support the deployment of TrailGuard AI wherever these conflict-prone species occur. The application of innovative and affordable technologies will advance the ability to protect endangered species, reduce risk to local communities, and promote human-wildlife coexistence over the long term.