What we do, and why.....

WildTrack has developed a non-invasive Footprint Identification Technique (FIT) which can identify endangered animals at the species, individual, age-class and sex levels. Animals have unique feet, in the same way that humans have unique fingerprints. This allows us to monitor their status and work with decision-makers in environmental and conservation sciences to implement effective policies. Polar bear front view

Using footprints to monitor endangered species is non-invasive and cost-effective. It is therefore a sustainable solution, particularly for elusive species, and sustainability is vital if conservation is to be successful. Moreover, since FIT is based on the ancient tracking techniques used by indigenous trackers, it engages local communities in the conservation effort - this too is generally recognised to be essential to the success of any wildlife polar_bear_frontleft-250-32 conservation effort.

Footprints can be found on a variety of different substrates. This left front footprint image from a Polar bear illustrates the excellent detail which can be obtained, even in snow, one of the most challenging substrates to work with.

WildTrack has projects helping develop and implement FIT across the world, from the Polar bear in the Arctic to the mountain lion in Texas, to the cheetah in Southern Africa.....even the tiny dormouse in the UK.

Helping us in our work are experts in computer vision, statistics, software and design engineering, forensics, biometrics, photography and the life sciences. Why not explore our site and come join us?!

Why monitor endangered species?

Why the need to monitor endangered species? We face an unprecedented crisis in the loss of biodiversity on our planet. UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program, estimates that between 150 and 200 species are currently being lost every day. The renowned American evolutionary biologist, E.O, Wilson estimated that by 2100, half of all our current species will be lost if we continue as we are. This mass extinction is due, in large part, to unsustainable methods of production and consumption. We estimate that there may be as many as 100 million different species on this planet, of which only 1.7 million have been identified.

The Global Mammal Assessment, presented in 2008 by more than 1800 research groups in 130 countries indicated that between 25 and 36% of all mammal species may be in danger of extinction, due to various threats ranging from habitat destruction or ecosystem change such as reduction of prey species, illegal poaching and climate change.

A further 836 species have such a paucity of data on numbers and distribution that we are unable to ascertain their status. This is a potentially catastrophic change to the world as we know it today. Many of these endangered species are flagships for their ecosystems. If they go, our motivation to protect their environments will be much reduced.

However, there are many approaches to a successful conservation strategy. The top priority, most conservationists would now agree, is firstly to secure and protect the natural habitat required by each species in as pristine an ecological state as possible, and then secondly to monitor the progress of species within that habitat. We urgently need methods for monitoring which will be cost-effective, objective and non-invasive, to give us the data we need on the numbers and distribution of these endangered species.

Biodiversity is the source of all our fresh air, food, clean water, fuel and medicine….and as yet untapped scientific knowledge. It is all the animals, plants and microscopic life in the world, all the ecosystems in which they live, and all the processes they are a part of. More than 40% of current prescription drugs are made from one or more natural compounds from living plants. So, biodiversity is life, and it is all our lives.

"Do nothing, and not only do we lose trillions of dollars' worth of current and future benefits to society, we also further impoverish the poor and put future generations at risk. The time for ignoring biodiversity and persisting with conventional thinking regarding wealth creation and development is over. We must get on to the path towards a green economy."

Pavan Sukhdev, Economist and Lead Author of the UN TEEB report, October 2010.

The featured project for Summer/Autumn 2011 is monitoring black rhino in Kuzikus, Namibia.

BRinK, Biological Research in Kuzikus, is the scientific research arm of the Kuzikus wildlife reserve, situated on the western fringes of the Kalahari desert in Eastern Namibia. Kuzikus, began the process of restoring cattle farmland to wildlife in 1964, and was also a pioneer in breeding black rhino on their private land, under the rhino conservators plan drawn up by the Namibian government to try to help diversify the range of this endangered species within Namibia.

finding_rhino_footprints-320-220

We have been working with Johanna Reinhard, scientific manager of Kuzikus, to implement FIT for monitoring their black rhino. Using the black rhino FIT algorithm we developed in Zimbabwe with Diceros bicornis minor, early results suggest that this same algorithm is equally effective in identifying this different subspecies, Diceros bicornis bicornis. We are now working with BRinK to collect a library database from each individual on Kuzikus, so that as the population expands the individuals can be monitored individually.

The scientific programme at BRinK provides a unique opportunity for volunteers to experience FIT for monitoring black rhino, working with Johanna Reinhard and her team at Kuzikus.

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Read more about this project under the Showcase main tab.....

Take a look at this video, sponsored by the SAS Institute, showing the work we're doing to develop an Inuit-led protocol for monitoring Polar bears, in conjunction with Dr Peter Van Coeverden de Groot of Queens University Ontario.

What we do, and why.....

Why monitor endangered species?

Biodiversity

Summer / Autumn 2011 Featured Project

Polar bear video