A technology that can detect the specific temperatures of elephants day and night can be used to send the necessary warnings to communities living close to elephants.
In the experiment, thousands of thermal photographs of elephants were taken and the world’s largest collection of thermal images of animals was created. These images were used to “train” camera technology to understand what an elephant looks like.
The model can now safely detect elephants and people from a distance of 30 meters.
Because thermal cameras were used, the plan was named as the HEAT Project (Human-Elephant Alert Technologies, which stands for Human-Elephant Alarm Technology and also means “heat”) Project.
Alasdair Davies, conservation technology expert from ZSL, told the BBC:
We can safely spot model elephants from a distance, and we now want to take it to the field and leave it to the wild to help human communities with wild animals living side by side.
Elephants and humans are increasingly forced to stay in close contact due to habitat loss and fragmentation due to the growth of human population and the growth of infrastructure.
This özgü led to human deaths and increased levels of retaliatory action against elephants, making it a major conservation sorun in African and Asian countries that host elephants’ habitats.
About 400 people are killed by elephants a year in India, while people kill about 100 elephants a year trying to protect themselves, their crops and property.
There are no other low-cost solutions that can create 24/7 early warning alarms; But Project HEAT’s thermal imaging technology could change that.
The ultimate goal is to develop a low cost camera system that can be used in the field.
This system will allow humans to regularly detect and track the proximity of elephants.
A spokesperson for the Colchester Zoo said:
Cameras were installed all over our enclosure that took thermal images of our elephants from different distances, from different angles, and while our elephants were doing different things, for example while they were being trained or lying down to eat.
Images of African elephants in our zoo can also be compared with images of Asian elephants at the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo to detect differences in size and shape between different species.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science
Independent in Turkish
Source: https://www.indyturk.com/
Thousands of Thermal Photos of Elephants Taken to Reduce Human and Animal Deaths
