A thermal (at 1280x1024 resolution) impression of Kasteel park Born, The Netherlands
28 March 2026 10:50am
17 June 2026 7:45am
Great questions! Actually, I added AI object detection with large models to my system back in 2019, before I got involved in wildlife, it was for security purposes. I got involved in wildlife in 2023. I think the vast majority of wildlife users of AI are using very small models deployable on low power systems. So they would have may false positives and negatives I expect.
My systems have not yet been used for poacher detection. When I developed it for security, I needed to make it so reliable that I could have it wake me at night. So false positives and misses had to be very small. To that end I wrote the software so it could combine several other mitigating factors. Such as multiple modules at the same time, statistical based triggers etc. For example, we could make it detect a person requiring both a high confidence thermal match and a low confidence visible match in order to trigger. That sort of thing. It can be made very reliable.
It also had from the very start a flexible state machine built in that can be menu configured to combine all kinds of state before it triggers.
(I'll find out about low visibility situations soon as I'll be deploying some thermal systems to Greenland next month).
17 June 2026 8:00am
BTW. On my roadmap is to develop a very long distance IR system that could detect humans at 1km with reliably in complete darkness but I don't have the funding for it at the moment. It would use a zoomable IR system with a 30-180mm thermal zoom at 1280x1024 resolution. It's kind of a dream system on mine and I'm determined to build it.
Getting behavioral data out of datasets that weren't built for it
16 June 2026 3:49pm
17 June 2026 6:53am
There’s also a step before the behavioral analysis. And that’s capturing the behavior in the first place.
I agree the behavior side is very interesting. Our thermal module based camera traps see in both day and night over great distances. They also record in both thermal and visible light continuously, allowing one to remotely retrieve a video section, wind it backwards and see what the animal was doing before and where did it come from. Thermal enabled camera traps add huge value for behavior analysis.
Welcome to WILDLABS!
29 October 2015 5:16pm
15 June 2026 10:00pm
Hi Everyone! I’m an AI Solutions Architect based out of the USA with 20 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise spans end-to-end systems, including AI Agents, AI Chatbots, UI, Backend, DevOps, Cloud, and Data Engineering. I joined WILDLABS to apply this technical background to meaningful conservation and environmental efforts. I am always open to helping the community architect, build, and scale your technical solutions, so please feel free to reach out. I look forward to connecting and collaborating with you all!
16 June 2026 3:45pm
Hi everyone - Maggie here.
I'm a behavioral ecologist turned founder, building something called EarthPulse: the idea is to read animal behavior as an early signal of ecosystem stress, before it shows up in population counts. My roots are in behavioral ecology research (amphibians, mostly), and these days I live at the messy, fascinating intersection of ethology, conservation, and AI.
I've been lurking and learning here for a while - the work in this community is exactly the kind of thing that pulled me into conservation tech in the first place. Especially interested in bioacoustics, camera trap analysis, and how we get behavioral signal out of the data we already collect.
Excited to actually start participating. Looking forward to learning from all of you.
Maggie
17 June 2026 1:37am
Hello! I'm Carter Andrew. I work in machine learning and trying to make it accessible in conservation. I'm currently working for Natura Bolivia piloting a amphibian bioacoustics monitoring project alongside Conservation Metrics.
I'm an avid fan of open source and would love to see if there's anywhere I could help out with software/data access/ml resources. I've just found WildLabs and have absolutely loved it so far, I'm really excited to get to know everyone!
London Climate Action Week 2026 Conservation Technology Related Events?
15 June 2026 2:23pm
16 June 2026 11:20pm
Yes I've just moved to London actually and would love to attend as many events as I can.
real‑time drone‑based telemetry tracking on forest‑dwelling bats in Europe
27 May 2026 3:33pm
29 May 2026 5:08pm
Hi Garin,
Try Altitude Tracking https://altitudeconservation.com/
There stuff is way better than Wildlife Drones for tracking multiple VHF transmitters. Speak with Dr. Chris Muller about their system.
Good luck,
Chris
Vectronic Aerospace
11 June 2026 5:42am
Hi Garin
We have a well-engineered and proven system for aerial VHF tracking of animals. The Multi-Track system can be attached to a drone or piloted aircraft. It can track 500 frequencies simultaneously, and does not require triangulation, or manual drone flying.
For more info, and to get in touch, please see our website:
https://altitudeconservation.com/
Good luck with your fieldwork!
Chris
16 June 2026 7:36pm
Hey Garin, how are you?
you should contact https://wildlifedrones.net/ they have rented the equipment (payload and drones) in the past to track pangolins, bats and many other species. But I've heard the they are closing bussiness since Trump's budget cut in the USA since this country was their first client. But I think that they may help you out getting in touch with you with the researchers.
My tech advices are, what's the species? weight? attachment method? how long do you want to track? you should use the higher LOS of the transmitter, 40 Km LOS (Line of Sight) is the higher and since you are interested in tracking fossorial species, the LOS will be affected by the obstacles (ground density, forest density, topography etc), so the LOS will be like 5% up to 10% in the field, its about 200 mt up to 4 Km
Also try contact
If you are trying building up your payload and drone here's a link that may help you out
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13261
The State of Conservation Technology: What Five Years of Data Tell Us
Vanesa Reyes
and 2 more
16 June 2026 7:08pm
17 June 2026 12:33am
Interesting study and good to see it evolve over time. From a hardware manufacturer's perpsective a few items jumped out at me:
Simultaneous Cost and Improvement Demand: I had a chuckle that all hardware products surveyed the top two user feedback was improvements to both Tech Quality and Financial Accessibility "we want it better and cheaper"! These are generally diametrically opposed and are balanced by OEM's for main use case design. Improvements to both are rare and difficult outside of global macro economic factors and underlying technology/manufacturing advancement.
Under-represented Government and Industry Participation Relative to Buying Power. Survey respondents are heavily weighted to NGO/University (60% of respondents) whereas government and private made up 17.5% of respondents. However, the purchasing power is flipped. Many tech products are outbought by budget heavy government/industry by factors of 10-100x. The total domination of income streams for OEM's means their concerns determine development path.
Additionally, with government/industry underrepresented here we can see a divergence between NGO/University dominated feedback in reprots like these taken by early stage companies and then hitting the wall of the government/industry funding machine favouring the commercial offerings of mature businesses. The classic tech startup zombie corp that struggles to bridge the gap between seed funding and long-term sales supported viability.
Manufacturer Multi-Regional Expansion/Distribution: On developer constraints this was not an option on survey response. Regardless of industry, multi-regional expansion is the next biggest test point of a company after initial funding/profit. Very few companies succeed in this stage regardless of industry. Gatekeeping barriers such as increased transportation, tariffs, local distribution costs, and payment/transaction risk kneecap expansions of otherwise functional tech into other markets. Even in best case scenario these additional structural costs are passed onto the consumer, often with less support.
Global South Accessibility: The report notes a wide bridge between the two. Unfortunately, for most hardware products the smaller, independent markets in the global south are the most expensive for non-local companies to access. We also often cannot easily reduce base price without reducing quality. I wonder about other non-price accessibility levers - such as regional multi-tech hubs with tool librairies, training etc.
A big takeaway for the larger global north companies is that we should all be considering white labelling or core underlying tech development for adoption by optimized local businesses for the specific regional needs. For example focus on universal and expensive to develop core components like PCB's and leave local optimization such as power supply, housing to local importers/integrators.
10 years later, achievement unlocked! A breakthrough for sea turtle satellite tracking
7 June 2026 1:05am
16 June 2026 12:48am
This post makes me so freaking happy! Glad to have met you through conservation technology discussions all the way over here in Australia back in the early days :) I am also super excited to see your innovations continue.
16 June 2026 2:13pm
Looks very beautiful. Well done.
Poor Rob Appleby. He's just a youngun.
Safe and Sound project report: Is Camtrap DP a suitable standard for (bio)acoustic data?
18 March 2026 4:17pm
12 April 2026 6:19pm
Your report on extending Camtrap DP to bioacoustics resonated with something we are just beginning to explore in Mindoro Island, Philippines.
We have ongoing camera trap deployments in interior forest habitats and are beginning to examine the acoustic layer embedded in those recordings, particularly for nocturnal species such as the Mindoro Boobook. The discussion around terminology and how datasets are structured feels especially relevant, though I am still trying to understand how frameworks like Camtrap DP would apply in practice to this kind of data.
It is encouraging to see this direction being shaped at the community level. I will be following this closely as we continue to learn and figure out how our own datasets might eventually align.
15 June 2026 11:54pm
Thanks for this! I've shared this post with the WildTrax (https://wildtrax.ca/) team and CanAvian (https://canavian.ca/) to investigate. We're exploring data standards as part of a recent initiative so this will be very helpful! @jeffcullis
Project Report: Upgrading Software for The Motus Wildlife Tracking System and NatureCounts
15 June 2026 11:52pm
What questions would you ask an AI agent for conservation tech?
8 July 2025 5:49pm
6 June 2026 11:31pm
Elionai - your point about lessons from past deployments and "what tends to fail first" really resonates. I think that gap between ideal-condition performance and what actually holds up in the field is one of the most underrated questions in this whole space.
I'm building something that integrates environmental monitoring, so I'd love to pick your brain on the edge/deployment side. Messaging you to connect!
7 June 2026 6:48pm
I would probably ask: “If your code basically does not allow you to take harmful actions, what should you do if you are provided with irrefutable proof that your existence, supported by components built and developed with “rare minerals” extracted from conflict areas is actually harming and destroying indigenous communities and biodiversity?”
15 June 2026 10:08pm
Hello,
This is an incredible initiative, and exactly the kind of practical AI application that can make a huge impact in the conservation space!
As an AI Solutions Architect based in the US with 20 years of tech experience, I have built several RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and Agentic solutions. I would love to contribute directly to the implementation or consulting side of this project if required.
Whether you need help with structuring the retrieval pipelines for the forum data, designing the agentic workflows, or handling the backend and cloud deployment, I would be happy to jump in and support the build.
Please let me know how I can best get involved, or if you'd like to chat about the technical architecture and how to bring this to life!
London Climate Action Week 2026
15 June 2026 2:27pm
DIY Noir Insect Camera Trap, solving the MIB paradox, looking for some advice.
9 June 2026 6:45pm
10 June 2026 6:51pm
Very beautiful and elegant project. Verifying that the model's misclassification probability is lower during nighttime, may point out that perhaps a monochromatic camera module would fit the purpose a little bit better.
Also Voopeak cameras use 850nm IR right? I am aiming for 940nm IR cause I believe the 850 would end up attracting bugs and messing with my experimental design.
Yep, not an easy task to detect an insect :)
Thank you again for your comment and nice to meet you.
11 June 2026 4:38pm
Hi there! Thanks @Adrien_Pajot for the call-out as I didn't see this. Sandro, I completely feel for you with the challenge! We had attempted to use the motion trigger feature of the cameras, but ended up just recording video and using an object detection approach within the video. I should mention too that our results were not perfect, but our aim was to mostly work out the process, not refine it so there's certainly room for improvement and increase in sample size and training development. But I did think that there was a bit better luck with the nighttime moth detection as compared to daytime (if you take a look at about minute 4:25 in the video at the bottom of this link https://www.oceanscienceanalytics.com/terrestrial-pollinators). I think if we were to continue development, nighttime monitoring would be an interesting route to go. I am not sure about the 850 nm for the Voopeak IR but it didn't seem to attract the insects in the data I reviewed (but I could certainly be wrong!).
I'll be interested in learning more about how your project goes!
15 June 2026 9:57am
Depends a bit on how much activity you expect and how long insects stay around on average, but similar to what has been suggested before, I'd consider not using a motion trigger, but instead taking pictures in regular interval.
List of bioacoustics software
1 July 2020 3:23pm
10 June 2026 3:37pm
Thank you Tessa. I have filled up the google form as well (Bioacoustics software database submissions).
13 June 2026 4:56pm
Hi Tessa, thanks so much for the update!!! I love that there is an interactive website now. This is such a valuable website, I'm happy to see the updates ;) - Liz
15 June 2026 9:00am
Actually, on the subject of acoustics, the Raspberry Pi based sound localization system I developed has been running continuously since 2023 writing to a 256GB SD card :-)
https://github.com/hcfman/sbts-aru
I submitted it for addition to that list a few years ago. Should be there also I guess.
I have three of these running around my house. Off power though because I can. Actually I use one of them as a time server for all my computer equipment because it maintains microsecond time accuracy continuously.
Issues with new model of wildlife cameras
8 June 2026 4:54pm
15 June 2026 12:19am
Hi Jennifer,
Reconyx are some of the best cameras, so it sounds like you may have been unlucky with the batch.
The 4 cameras you visited 2 months later (100% battery life) would appear to indicate that there's a trigger issue with the PIR, although you'd expect at least some drop in power even with 2 months idle consumption (1-2%). The 8/12 then running out of power with less than you'd expect photos wise however points to a possible brown out, which would be linked to battery chemistry if there's a pull of current and the camera is restarting in say 50% of the triggers, but you'd need some very old rechargable alkalines that have already been used for several years etc.
What did you use battery wise for the deployment?
If you sent them back for an inspection I would be interested to hear what the reason was.
Good luck!
New "Human Dimensions" group on Wildlabs?
29 May 2026 7:25pm
5 June 2026 8:12pm
Hello WildLabs community!
My name is Dr. Tariq Ahmad, and I am actively engaged in the conservation of the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata). As part of my research and fieldwork, I focus on understanding the ecology, habitat requirements, threats, and conservation challenges facing this iconic species.
The Indian pangolin is one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia, facing severe pressure from illegal trade and habitat loss. My work includes:
- 📍 Conducting field surveys and camera-trapping to assess pangolin distribution
- 📊 Analysing habitat suitability and threat patterns
- 🐾 Collaborating with local communities and stakeholders for conservation action
- 🧬 Publishing research to inform policy and protection strategies
I am passionate about translating science into practical conservation outcomes and engaging with global networks to support pangolin protection. I look forward to connecting with others working on pangolins, wildlife trafficking, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation technologies.
Feel free to reach out — I’d love to share insights, tools, and collaboration opportunities!
Warm regards,
Dr. Tariq Ahmad
12 June 2026 9:01pm
I would join this group! I'm fairly new to this community, and human dimensions is my closest area of interest amongst the other groups listed for WildLabs.
14 June 2026 9:35pm
Hi
Heavily interested
I am trying to put in place a citizen science project where UX design and environmental human-computer interaction and Environmental communication are a big deal
keep me in touch
Global drivers of forest loss at 1 km resolution - Version 1.3
13 June 2026 11:42am
Global drivers of forest loss at 1 km resolution - Version 1.3 - Datasets - WRI Data Explorer
Global map of the dominant driver of tree cover loss at 0.01° resolution (~1km) for the period 2001-2025. This is the latest update for this dataset.
GIS Assistant (African Parks Network)
12 June 2026 6:32pm
XX CongresoArgentino de Acústica y V Listening for Aquatic Mammals in Latin America Workshop
12 June 2026 4:49pm
Summer Pre-Conference Networking Event (ECCB, ACCB, ESA, CAC, NACCR & more!)
12 June 2026 2:57pm
Unlock New Features by Earning Your Community Involvement Badge!
14 March 2024 11:54am
4 June 2026 2:23pm
ok!
7 June 2026 8:27am
I do believe this is the sort of rule that actually stops people from interacting rather than encouraging, especially people with ASD, just like me, it ends up excluding people who could become valuable members of the community.
12 June 2026 1:57pm
Hi Sandro,
Thanks for raising this and what could be a barrier to certain users.
The Sprout badge was originally introduced to recognize engagement and, more recently, to help protect the platform from large waves of spam and fake accounts that manage to get around our other protections. However, your comment highlights an important trade-off, and we appreciate you bringing it to our attention.
I have updated these guidelines to include an extra line clarifying that if someone runs into issues completing the required tasks to obtain the Sprout Badge for any reason, they can privately email me / the team and we can circumvent the badge and unlock all the abilities for anyone that needs them. I can see you have already obtained your Sprout Badge, but hopefully this will help others in future.
We are also working on potentially easing restrictions for non-verified users to be able to post a limited number of times per day instead of not at all, which would allow for valuable contributions from any community member without the need to jump through these hoops, but also retain a level of protection against mass spam posts from bots that manage to circumvent our other anti-spam/bot security at the point of registration. We also plan to make it easier for members to track what requirements for the badge they have completed and what they need to do next in order to minimise the time it takes to earn this badge.
We welcome any other suggestions to make things more accessible to more community members too!
Quantifying 15-months of fynbos vegetation recovery using Drone Photogrammetry and QGIS
12 June 2026 11:56am
New Book on Camera Trapping Tech
12 June 2026 3:39am
3D CAD models for custom Song Meter/EMT Accessories
11 June 2026 9:44pm
Drone-based VHF telemetry for tracking burrowing and dense-vegetation species: seeking experiences and technical recommendations
3 April 2026 3:35am
27 May 2026 3:15pm
thank you about the information of Wildlife drones, so bad for me...
29 May 2026 5:10pm
Hi Matheus,
Try Altitude Tracking https://altitudeconservation.com/
There is stuff is way better than Wildlife Drones for tracking multiple VHF transmitters. Speak with Dr. Chris Muller about their system.
Good luck,
Chris
Vectronic Aerospace
11 June 2026 5:41am
Hi Matheus
We have a well-engineered and proven system for aerial VHF tracking of animals. The Multi-Track system can be attached to a drone or piloted aircraft. It can track 500 frequencies simultaneously, and does not require triangulation, or manual drone flying.
For more info, and to get in touch, please see our website:
https://altitudeconservation.com/
AltitudeConservation.com
Good luck with your fieldwork!
Chris
🐸 WILDLABS Awards 2025: Open-Source Solutions for Amphibian Monitoring: Adapting Autonomous Recording Devices (ARDs) and AI-Based Detection in Patagonia
27 May 2025 8:39pm
12 November 2025 7:36pm
🌿 Project Update — November 2025
Sharing our experience at the Symposium on Physics Applied to Ecology and Conservation (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil).
We’d like to thank Carlos Araujo for kindly inviting us to take part in the Symposium on Physics Applied to Ecology and Conservation, held on November 6–7, 2025, at the PTI Campus – Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA) in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.
The event aimed to build bridges between researchers from different disciplines and countries, exploring how physics can support acoustic monitoring, ecological data collection, and biodiversity conservation.
🎙️ We joined Roundtable 3 — Hardware, Sensors, and Audio Recording, where we discussed:
Open-source autonomous recorders for biodiversity monitoring.
Energy-efficient design and sensor integration.
Alternative battery types and power solutions (particularly relevant to our developments)
🎥 Watch the roundtable recording here.
It was also a great opportunity to share our experience and highlight the WildLabs community, connecting with colleagues working at the intersection of physics, ecology, and technology.
9 June 2026 3:36pm
Hi everyone!
Following up on our project development, we have just published the full report on our work integrating environmental monitoring into AudioMoth devices and the resulting BirdNET workflows for Patagonian amphibians. You can find the complete documentation and results here.
Beyond the technical implementation, we’ve documented the custom firmware, the AI training pipeline for our species, and the practical challenges we faced during field deployments:
Project Video: YouTube Video Link
Firmware: AudioMoth I2C Firmware Repository (GitLab)
AI Workflow: BirdNET-based Workflow for Amphibians (GitHub)
Edge Models: TinyFrog Repository (GitHub)
PyTorch reimplementation: BirdNET-Analyzer (GitHub)
If you are working on similar setups or have questions about the hardware or the workflow, feel free to reach out. I hope this documentation proves useful for your own research.
Thanks for the support and the exchange of ideas during these months!
10 June 2026 1:58pm
That is so cool! Love the video!
Looking for partners: Improving conservation funding and reporting
8 June 2026 1:27pm
10 June 2026 9:55am
Bumping this! I'd still love to hear from anyone who's got any insight on these topics.
10 June 2026 1:53pm
Dear Sam,
Thanks for bumping this one.
I would be pleased to discuss with you about these. I am overseeing the funding opportunities (Awards and Boring Fund) at WILDLABS and we are facing growing challenges every round.
Please, email me at [email protected] so we can find 30min to discuss.
Shippy
10 June 2026 8:46am
Invitation to share your story
7 November 2025 5:35pm
9 June 2026 7:27pm
I did two interviews last year with two great guests. One of them from our community - @Erichards
How Science Can Help Stop Wildlife Crime
Sustainability In Architecture
Relive ICTC 2026: Main stage Videos and Presentations now available!
9 June 2026 4:16pm
16 June 2026 3:21pm
Hi Kim,
I come from automotive CV where false positives around vulnerable road users are a constant challenge, especially with edge cases at night and in low-visibility conditions (in Greenland or Canada winter conditions might skew the video clarity).
I’m curious about how this is handled in conservation/anti-poaching setups, particularly in IR-based detection systems that can pick up humans at range in darkness.
In automotive we rarely try to classify object intent, rather just direction of movement and proximity, so I’m wondering how systems in your context avoid over-interpreting a detection (e.g. differentiating a hiker or worker from a genuine threat scenario), and what role something like restricted location, known poacher trails, activity, or time of day might play into interpreting the detection.
Is the system usually designed to be triggered based with a manual triage backend or if there might be some degree of automated triage? Or if the methods you use are mostly for animal detection a la camera traps and human detections are an added benefit?
Would be great to hear how you structure that pipeline in practice.
Thanks,
Ron