New AI system can help conserve wildlife, prevent poaching in Africa: report

Energetic bear cubs play with rehabilitation staff after arriving at a wildlife center. African conservationists are hoping that artificial intelligence (AI) powered cameras could help aid in the protection of endangered species, such as the forest and savannah elephants. "We must urgently put an end to poaching and ensure that sufficient suitable habitat for both forest and savanna elephants is conserved," Dr. Bruno Oberle, Director-General of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said when discussing the potential new technology. The cameras, developed in collaboration between Dutch tech start-up Hack the Planet and British scientists at Stirling University, will be able to detect different animal species and humans in real time and provide live alerts to local villages and rangers, Stirling wrote in a press release. A pilot test of the tech, which works with satellites and a range of networks including Wi-Fi, long-rage radio and cellular coverage, immediately labeled images and sent out warnings calling for help.