Facial Recognition Software: The Next Big Thing in Species Conservation?

(Credit: Stacey Tecot) How do you care for the creatures you love? You shoot them with tranquilizer darts, capture them in cages, embed microchips, pierce their ears or make them wear funny collars. For scientists who monitor endangered species, these are tried-and-true methods to count and track individuals in a given population—along with photography and experts’ sharp eyes. But capturing or sedating an animal can be stressing (and could cause physical harm), and boots-on-the-ground counts can be inconsistent and costly. Sometimes, getting up close and personal with animals isn't feasible. So researchers asked a question that's come to define a generation: Can a computer do this? If the LemurFaceID system is any indication of preliminary success, it sure can. Biologists and computer scientists at Michigan State University built a facial recognition system that, with a little training, correctly identified individuals in a set of red-bellied lemur photos with 98 percent accuracy. The system has room to grow, but it’s an early indication that facial recognition is yet another innovation that will change the conservation counting game.