Identifying big cats with technology
On safari, something catches my eye in the bush. Was it a Lion? Leopard? If so, how can I identify the individual. This is a common problem I’ve faced when trying to collect data on wildlife population numbers.
If you’ve been keeping up to date with conservation work and advancements in the techniques to better monitor wildlife populations, you’ll have read about the need to improve the accuracy of population estimates through ensuring that individuals are not being double-counted. For lion populations, this is resulting in increased interest in identifying individual lions based on unique features such as their whisker spots. Like a human fingerprint, big cats all have unique whisker spot patterns along with nose and ear cuts. Nose and ear cuts aren’t always reliable as males often fight for territories or over food and new cuts can occur. However, if you’ve ever seen a male lion, big scars often leave an easily identifiable marker.
“Like a human fingerprint, big cats all have unique whisker spot patterns along with nose and ear cuts. ”
Andrew Gallear has volunteered a number of times with African Impact on their Big Cat Monitoring Project in the Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya. Volunteers learn about this whisker spot technique for identifying and monitoring big cats. When he first arrived, they were recording the locations of sightings using clipboards and paper. Having an MA from Cambridge University in Computer Science, he saw the opportunity to both improve the accuracy of the data, and engage more people in this work through developing an App that can be used on a range of mobile devices to record sightings.
His interactive mobile App is now used by their volunteers in the field. It accesses the device’s GPS, so that when they see wildlife of interest, the sighting can be recorded with exact latitude/longitude, number count, and details about behaviour without the need for a mobile signal. For animals in which identification of individuals is required (such as lions and elephants), volunteers can also pull up the digital photo ID cards to help identify the individual animal whilst in the field. When back at base the data is synced to a central hub from the mobile devices. The syncing works both ways, so that updated photo ID cards are also sent back to the mobile devices being used.
“Volunteers can also pull up the digital photo ID cards to help identify the individual animal (e.g. lions and elephants) whilst in the field.”
Furthermore, the App allows photos from other cameras to be linked to sightings using a click-and-drag feature. A new feature is in development to allow Wifi-enabled cameras to directly link to the App to automatically link photos and sightings whilst on safari.
Successfully using technology in remote places requires innovative and adaptive design techniques. Andrew says “It’s vital to spend time with the staff and volunteers in the Conservancy and constantly develop the software using a ‘test and learn’ approach”. He has spent the last 5 years developing and testing ways of improving the data collection process. There is more information about this work here at www.acenature.org
From a scientific and conservation perspective, facilitating the identification of individuals offers the opportunity to better estimate lion populations across Africa, and thereby target conservation efforts.
“From an outreach and engagement perspective, it also offers great potential. ”
Andrew says “Enabling visitors to not just see a pride of lions whilst on safari, but also to use digital photo ID cards to identify each individual by its unique characteristics provides a memorable safari experience. Being able to then engage these visitors in understanding that individual’s history when back at Camp offers great potential to communicate the urgency of conservation efforts in unforgettable ways”.
I myself (Tom) was also fortunate to volunteer on the Big Cat Monitoring Project in the Naboisho Conservancy, and I am now supporting the work of Shenton Safaris. Having seen the App developed in Naboisho, I knew that it could also be appropriately used to support the conservation work of Shenton Safaris, and engage their visitors in pro-actively contributing to this science.
Again, Andrew and I are using a ‘test and learn’ approach to ensure that the App suits the individual circumstances of Shenton Safaris, and ensure that the App will enable robust data collection. It’s pivotal to the accuracy of data recording to allow the software to be customizable to the exact needs of the location and the species being recorded.
Having spent the last 35 years developing software in a commercial environment, Andrew says “being able to use my skills to help monitor some of the world’s most iconic wildlife, and engage visitors in the science of their conservation is really rewarding”.
Written by Tom Roper