A new system of cutting-edge technology is using a combination of satellite imaging, aerial photography, and artificial intelligence (AI) to track the movement of wild deer in Scotland.
Accurate tracking is important for managing populations for both conservation and sporting purposes.
Left to their own devices, deer can over-populate as they have no natural predators in the UK, which can be detrimental for woodland and other natural habitats.
Deer counts have traditionally been carried out manually, with spotters flying in helicopters.
The new system, developed by NatureScot and Glasgow-based tech company EOLAS Insight with support from the Scottish Government’s CivTech programme, uses a combination of aerial imagery and AI to analyse the pictures, identify and count any deer spotted.
The first phase of the trial used space satellite imagery and was so successful that the tech is now being adapted by EOLAS Insight to help conservationists track elephants in Africa.
Jamie Hammond of NatureScot said that the satellite trials had been successful in locating deer in the wider landscape and providing an idea of total numbers.
The Scottish Highlands tend to be somewhat cloudier than the African savannah, which can pose challenges when it comes to gathering more granular data.
Aerial images are analysed by AI to spot and classify deer
The next stage of the trial will therefore use light human-crewed airplanes that can cover larger areas in a shorter time than helicopters, while also being greener and less costly to use.
They can also fly below cloud cover in many situations, providing higher resolutions than orbiting satellites in a wider range of conditions.
The aircraft can gather imagery automatically using an onboard high-resolution camera system, which is then analysed by the EOLAS Insight AI.
As well as providing a more accurate overall count of the animals, it’s hoped that the AI will be able to provide further details such as classifying individual deer as stags, hinds and calves.
Mr Hammond said that while the project was not yet at the stage where it could replace helicopters entirely for the regular deer census, the technology did show huge potential.
He added that they hoped the new system could provide an alternative solution to counting deer that was cheaper, more accurate, and had a smaller carbon footprint.
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