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North American whitetail deer, Brazilian giant anteaters, and Australian cassowaries share a common menace: vehicles.
Animal collisions are a fender-bending problem with deadly and costly repercussions. But a team of researchers from Australia has leveraged artificial intelligence as a solution, according to Tech Xplore.
The "world-first" roadside technology, the Large Animal Activated Roadside Monitoring and Alert system, was developed over 12 months by the University of Sydney and other partners.
The concept is fairly simple. A variety of roadside sensors can detect animals entering the travel lane, triggering a flashing message sign to warn motorists, per Tech Xplore.
During a field test in Queensland, the system detected 97% of cassowaries, leading to reduced vehicle speeds and lower collision risk. Better yet, the tech's AI component allows it to constantly evolve and improve.
At the end of a five-month trial, LAARMA was able to identify birds 78.5% of the time when within about 330 feet, the report continued.
"The system teaches itself to get better," said Kunming Li, from the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Robotics. "It's self-supervised. Every time it spots a cassowary, it learns something new about it."
The technology can also be trained to recognize multiple species. That's important, as animal collisions are a dangerous and costly occurrence everywhere.
The Insurance Information Institute reported that 1.8 million American drivers filed an animal collision claim between July 2023 and June 2024. A 2018 Purdue University report identified 150 deaths and $1 billion in damage from deer collisions.
These incidents increase as more roadways intrude upon animal ecosystems. Coyote sightings in Parma, Ohio, neighborhoods illustrate how habitat loss and urban sprawl are driving animals from forests into backyards, and crocodiles in Florida have been spotted outside their natural habitats.
Habitat loss is considered by the National Wildlife Federation to be the biggest threat to animals in America. It's driven by energy development, agriculture, and water diversion, among other factors.
The report cited Earth's warming as an emerging problem that is changing and shrinking habitats through coastal erosion and extreme heat waves.
LAARMA testing in Australia even included trials of different warning messages to see which ones best alert drivers. The code for the program is available for free to other highway managers who want to help limit collisions, according to Tech Xplore.
"This is a big step toward autonomous wildlife protection," Li said.
In Australia, the endangered cassowaries can weigh up to 175 pounds. Project co-lead Ioni Lewis said that hitting one at speed is akin to colliding with a refrigerator. And at least 174 have been killed by vehicles since 1996, per Tech Xplore. That's troubling, because the Queensland government listed the southern cassowary as endangered.
"This is about saving lives -- human and feathered," Li said in Tech Xplore's story.
Staying up to date on issues that impact biodiversity can provide knowledge about worthwhile projects to support. Solar panels on train tracks are one example of adding a cleaner energy benefit to transportation. Simply driving more efficiently and cutting idling can save you money and reduce harmful, planet-warming tailpipe exhaust as well.
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