How Footprint Recognition Software Can
Revolutionize Zoology
New software can now
identify an animal's gender and age based just on a picture of a footprint.
This
is how it works: Key elements uniquely identifying a footprint are marked on an
image, as shown below with an Amur tiger print, prior to algorithmic
classification.
Studying
animal behavior in the wild usually starts with figuring out just where the wild
animals are hiding. Field biologists can use a combination of methods for this,
such as radio collars, aerial surveys, and camera traps to remotely monitor
animal movement. However, to an expert eye, a well-preserved footprint can also
reveal a surprising amount about an animal: its species, gender, age, even its
individual identity.
The scientists call this method footprint
identification technique, or FIT. Professional trackers photograph footprints
(with a ruler for scale) and add GPS coordinates. The footprints are then
loaded into software that allows WildTrack to match them to a large number of
known footprints from captive animals of the same species. Algorithms compare
elements of the photographed footprint against those in a database of animals
whose age and gender are known.
An ongoing challenge will
be FIT's reliability (it is currently 90 percent accurate at correctly
determining the sex, age, and species). Nonetheless the technique is low cost,
relatively easy to use, and noninvasive compared to radio collaring, which
requires darting an animal. But FIT doesn't work well with all animals yet, and
is still very much in an experimental stage.
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