Timely poacher detection and localization using sentinel animal movement

Abstract

Wildlife crime is one of the most profitable illegal industries worldwide. Current actions to reduce it are far from effective and fail to prevent population declines of many endangered species, pressing the need for innovative anti-poaching solutions. Here, we propose and test a poacher early warning system that is based on the movement responses of non-targeted sentinel animals, which naturally respond to threats by fleeing and changing herd topology. We analyzed human-evasive movement patterns of 135 mammalian savanna herbivores of four different species, using an internet-of-things architecture with wearable sensors, wireless data transmission and machine learning algorithms. We show that the presence of human intruders can be accurately detected (86.1% accuracy) and localized (less than 500 m error in 54.2% of the experimentally staged intrusions) by algorithmically identifying characteristic changes in sentinel movement. These behavioral signatures include, among others, an increase in movement speed, energy expenditure, body acceleration, directional persistence and herd coherence, and a decrease in suitability of selected habitat. The key to successful identification of these signatures lies in identifying systematic deviations from normal behavior under similar conditions, such as season, time of day and habitat. We also show that the indirect costs of predation are not limited to vigilance, but also include (1) long, high-speed flights; (2) energetically costly flight paths; and (3) suboptimal habitat selection during flights. The combination of wireless biologging, predictive analytics and sentinel animal behavior can benefit wildlife conservation via early poacher detection, but also solve challenges related to surveillance, safety and health.

Unveiling the intertwined roles of the spatial-temporal environment and behavioural modes in animal movement

“…From June to August 2017, 34 eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx), 34 blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and 35 plains zebra (Equus quagga) were captured in Welgevonden Game Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa (24°13'S, 27°54'E), and equipped with neck collars containing GPS and accelerometer sensors. For more details about the collaring process and sensors, see de Knegt et al (2021). The animals were released in a fenced study area of 1200 hectares at the northern edge of the reserve (Fig.…”

“…The GPS sensors collected spatial positions with a frequency ranging between 15 and 2 minutes, depending on the amount of body activity as determined by the accelerometer (see de Knegt et al, 2021).…”

“…via diel, lunar and seasonal patterns (e.g. de Knegt et al, 2021). Therefore, the animal movement process has generally been divided into several components in an effort to alleviate the interpretation issues: an internal motive regarding why to move and its temporally and spatially varying environment influencing when and where to move (Nathan et al, 2008).…”

“…Especially the effects of vegetation and topography on the movement of large terrestrial herbivores have received much attention. Vegetation-rich environments often coincide with lower movement speeds (Avgar et al, 2013;de Knegt et al, 2007de Knegt et al, , 2021Frair et al, 2005;Fryxell et al, 2008). Topography can influence movement through energetic costs associated with moving through sloping or rugged terrain (Dailey & Hobbs, 1989;Parker et al, 1984;White & Yousef, 1978).…”

Sentinel animals : Enriching artificial intelligence with wildlife ecology to guard rhinos

“…available toolbox provided by artificial intelligence into a framework that allows for the the detection of abrupt environmental changes from animal movement. Incorporating domain knowledge (viz., animal ecology) into a machine learning system is one of the most important aspects to make systems succeed in their tasks (DeepLearning.AI, 2021;Yu et al, 2010). Given the absence of an existing framework for the aforementioned task to which I could contribute, I did not set out to answer a specific overall research question in this thesis, but rather aimed at developing the full methodological framework and reflect on its mechanisms and uses.…”