Source: nicholas.duke.edu
Interactive software that “reads” and analyses footprints left by black rhinoceroses can be used to monitor the movements of the animals in the wild, giving conservationists a new way to keep watch on the endangered species and help keep it safe from poachers, according to a Duke University-led study.
The software, called the Footprint Identification Technique (FIT), runs on JMP software from SAS and uses advanced algorithms to analyse more than 100 measurements of a rhino’s footprint.
Because each rhino’s footprint is as distinctive as a human fingerprint, the analysed images can be archived electronically in a global database of previously collected footprint images for matching. MORE
Header image: WildTrack.