‘Only AI made it possible’: scientists hail breakthrough in tracking British wildlife

Technology proves able to identify dozens of species in thousands of hours of recordings

Researchers have developed arrays of AI-controlled cameras and microphones to identify animals and birds and to monitor their movements in the wild - technology, they say, that should help tackle Britain's growing biodiversity problem.

The robot monitors have been tested at three sites and have captured sounds and images from which computers were able to identify specific species and map their locations. Dozens of different birds were recognised from their songs while foxes, deer, hedgehogs and bats were pinpointed and identified by AI analysis. No human observers are involved.