Developing conservation technology to facilitate wildlife monitoring

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With the world's biodiversity under threat, scientists are beginning to look for alternative ways to study nature in an attempt to protect species and ecosystems. Facilitated by developments in technology, we can begin to explore how equipment such as drones and camera traps can be used to expand our current understanding of the natural world. Developing new computer methods to support and accelerate the analyses of data collected will be essential to this undertaking. This project aims to progress the field of conservation technology by developing face recognition software for use in wildlife monitoring. Using human face recognition techniques, we will develop a software tool that can identify individual brown bears (Ursus arctos) from images of their faces. Applying this technology to camera trap photographs would provide scientists with a new technique to monitor wild populations of brown bears and ask a wider variety of applied research questions. This is important as scientists are under increasing pressure to draw larger conclusions from their research, but with fewer resources available. In addition, we will test the software in the field and develop guidelines for its use. This study provides the foundation for development of face recognition for other threatened wildlife, which could aid conservation efforts worldwide. We will work alongside the bear tourism industry, who will apply the results of this project to inform business decisions. Locally relevant knowledge of the bears that are viewed commercially is extremely important as it allows companies to identify any causes for concern which could have a negative effect on business success. We plan to develop a free-to-use website that will provide worldwide access to our recognition system. Here, scientists and members of the public can upload photos of brown bears and not only identify the bear that they have seen, but also donate their images to a database to facilitate large-scale monitoring programs. This will help to develop more accurate estimates of population sizes for the species in Canada. This project provides the opportunity to engage Canadians in wildlife conservation through involvement as citizen scientists and therefore serves as a tool for public education.