Can AI Save Tigers? with Dr. Jeremy S. Dertien

<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style= "mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US">Tigers are at risk of extinction around the globe. But in India, hard fought conservation has seen the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66341095" target="_blank" rel="noopener">population double since 2006</a>. While this is fantastic news, it does create new challenges to face: such as how to manage poachers, and negative encounters between tigers and animals kept as livestock, and the people who live in the tigers’ range.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style= "mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US">Artificial intelligence, matched with innovative trail camera technology may be the answer to not only protecting tigers in India, but other large carnivores around the world.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style= "mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US">Published in the October 2023 edition of <em>BioScience</em>, '<a href= "https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/73/10/748/7261057" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mitigating human-wildlife conflict and monitoring endangered tigers using a real-time camera-based alert system</a>' outlines how the new tech (<a href= "https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2023/6327141/trailguard-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TrailGuard AI by Nightjar</a>) works, and what implications it may have beyond tigers in India. Lead author of this paper <a href= "https://www.conservationdertien.com/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener"><strong>Dr. Jeremy S. Dertien</strong></a> joins Defender Radio to share more about his experience working with AI and tigers, how we can see the solution be used in larger context, and what ethical issues need to be considered.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style= "mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US">SHOW NOTES:</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span lang="EN-US" style= "mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US">Photo of tigress in India by Dr. Jeremy