This AI Helps Detect Wildlife Health Issues in Real Time

During the spring, a troublesome pattern plays out as marine birds along the California coast die from domoic acid poisoning, which is caused by harmful algal blooms. An early clue indicates when and where this problem starts spreading: rescued California brown pelicans, red-throated loons, and other species start turning up at wildlife rehabilitation centers with signs of neurological disease. Yet, though they pepper the state map, these centers are not interconnected enough to nip the issue in the bud. When staffers at one center diagnose a sick bird, others another 40 miles up the road might not be privy to that information. So researchers at UC Davis recently tested an early detection system that uses artificial intelligence to classify admissions to rehabilitation centers, in the hope of sending wildlife agencies and researchers warnings about growing problems among marine birds and many other kinds of animals.