Conservationists have started using satellite imagery to count elephants from space, a technique that British experts hope will help protect threatened populations in Africa.
Researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Bath said the use of algorithms, machine learning and satellite technology could replace current techniques used to count elephants — a critical aspect of conservation.
“The population of African elephants has plummeted over the last century due to poaching, retaliatory killing from crop-raiding and habitat fragmentation,” Oxford said in a statement.
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“To conserve them requires knowledge of where they are, and how many there are: accurate monitoring is vital.”
Full story by Lauren Beukes at East Coast Radio
