News

BR Documentary
A film crew from Bayerischer Rundfunk accompanied the researchers for several days and reports on it in the documentary "Zu viel los im Wald? Mit KI auf den Spuren von Tieren und Menschen (07/09/24, Gut zu wissen, BR)."

GfÖ24
From September 9th to 13th, more than 780 scientists gathered at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Freising to attend the 53rd Annual Conference of the German Ecological Society. In dozens of sessions, researchers discussed the future of sustainable land use across ecosystems, landscapes, and biomes. The Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management Department of the Bavarian State Institute of Forestry (LWF) thereby focused on new challenges in wildlife ecology in the Anthropocene. In this context, the "AI4Wildlife" project was highly relevant. Project progress and goals were presented and discussed in an international forum.

Camera check
Every four months, the wildlife cameras in the Veldensteiner Forest are inspected for functionality. Additionally, data are retrieved and batteries replaced. Once a year, the researchers conduct vegetation survey directly in front of the camera traps. 

The field work is carried out by student assistants, in collaboration with PhD-Student Phil Garthen. 

Workshop "Camera traps, AI, and Ecology"
In September 2023, the international workshop "Camera Traps, AI and Ecology" took place in Jena. Wildlife ecologists and computer scientists discussed about the potential of artificial intelligence in wildlife monitoring and camera trap data analysis. Project partner Dr. Ludwig Bothmann from the LMU presented his active learning tool for automated wildlife image classification (see Bothmann et al. 2023, Ecological Informatics 77(5):102231).

Project meeting in the Veldensteiner Forest
In August 2023, representatives from all collarborating partners met in the Veldensteiner Forest (Forsthaus Hufeisen) to discuss project goals and practical implementation with local stakeholders from the Bavarian State Forestry (BaySF). All participants are pleased with the positive and successful collaboration.

Project kickoff
At the beginning of 2023, a team of researchers from Bayreuth, Freising and Munich started the research project. The kickoff was publicly announced through press releases.

For more details see www.lwf.bayern.de/service/presse/327057/index.php and www.uni-bayreuth.de/pressemitteilung/Wildtiermonitoring.