Developing a practical application of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies for conservation research and monitoring of endangered wildlife

许多野生动物物种被挤到了地球上为数不多的未受人类活动影响的地区，处于生存的边缘。无人驾驶飞行器（uav）、远程操作相机和声学技术以及机器学习的大数据分析能力的进步，现在为调查原本无法进入的地区提供了机会，并为保护关注的种群（通常是神秘物种）开发了强大的数据集。这项技术有望——但尚未实现其潜力——对那些因太稀少而无法进行徒步巡逻的动物进行计数，对卫星图像来说又太神秘的动物进行计数，在不打扰单个动物的情况下跟踪它们，并从声景中量化森林生物多样性和狩猎频率——所有这些复杂的问题都无法通过直接观察来解决。您的项目将开发和测试评估这一承诺的方法。您将试用新开发的设备，并收集与哈萨克斯坦雪豹（世界自然保护联盟红色濒危名录）和/或弯角大羚羊（地区灭绝）、阿达克斯（极度濒危）和突尼斯细长角瞪羚（濒危）的保护管理相关的实地数据。在这个项目结束时，你将增加对保护技术的价值和局限性的全球知识，对濒危哺乳动物种群轨迹的预测，以及对种群下降原因的理解。

Many wildlife species have been pushed into Earth's few remaining areas still unmodified by human activities, at the edge of existence. Advances in the capabilities of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), remotely operated camera and acoustic technologies, and big-data analysis by machine learning, now offer opportunities to survey otherwise inaccessible areas and develop robust datasets for populations of conservation concern, which are often cryptic species. This technology promises - but has not yet delivered on its potential - to count animals too rare for foot patrols and too cryptic for satellite imagery, to follow individual animals without disturbing them, and to quantify forest biodiversity and hunting frequency from soundscapes1 - all complex problems insoluble by direct observation. Your project will develop and test methodologies for evaluating this promise. You will trial newly developed equipment and collect field data relevant to conservation management of snow leopards in Kazakhstan (IUCN Red Listed as Vulnerable), and/or scimitar-horned oryx (Regionally Extinct), addax (Critically Endangered) and slender-horned gazelles (Endangered) in Tunisia. By the end of this project, you will have added to global knowledge on value and limits of conservation technology, to projections for population trajectories of endangered mammals, and to understanding of causes of population declines.