Welcome
to the Conservation Research homepage. The site is currently being developed
but most of the links are useful.
Welcome
to the Conservation Research homepage. The site is currently being developed
but most of the links are useful.
The "dunsurv" link will allow you to download the "dungsurv" software, which was introduced almost 15 years ago at a conference on Asian elephants in Bangalore (hosted by Dr. Raman Sukumar). It allows estimates of animal population density to be derived from surveys of "signs", such as dung, tracks or nests, without making "steady state" assumptions.
The "SCANS II" link is for those interested in the aerial survey component of the SCANS II cetacean surveys. From there you can download a simplified simulation program that tests the performance of the "circling" (or "RaceTrack") method used in the surveys.
The tiger software can now be viewed on the "tigers" page. The remaining links will provide access to the automated photo-id systems we've developed for other species. Over the next few months we will upload more programs and sample image sets that will allow anyone interested in maintaining an automated photo-id catalogue for that species to try using the system and check its suitability for their work.
shark cheetahs tigers seal seal_head dungsurv SCANS_II straydog wildebeest zebra salamander chital sand_lizard crested_newt
adders leopard frog lynx giraffe
Note: Since January 2011 a free download of software called "Wild ID" has been avialable from: http://software.dartmouth.edu/Macintosh/Academic/Wild-ID_1.0.0.zip. The WIld ID software is a highly effective implementation of the SIFT algorithm for matching animals patterns and depending on the particular pattern and range of camera angle and animal posture in the available images the Wild ID program may be sufficient for identification without the need to scan the pattern via a 3D model, as in the links above. The follwing animation illustrates extracting a pattern from the flank region of an adult female grey seal via the 3D model (thanks to Wully Patterson, SMRU).
Lex Hiby, 8 September 2011