The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have reportedly developed artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras to detect snow leopards and alert villagers to avoid the loss of livestock and human-animal conflict.
The WWF is taking these steps to preserve roughly 300 snow leopards in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), which accounts for the third-largest population in the world. They often end up face-to-face with villagers and lose their lives.
The WWF wants to reverse this trend, according to a BBC report. Roughly 221 to 450 snow leopards are killed each year, according to the animal body, one of the leading causes for their declining population in the last two decades. Most are killed in retaliation for attacks on livestock, the report said.
Currently, the WWF is testing 10 cameras placed in three villages in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pak-occupied Kashmir. These cameras are placed at towers in remote and rough mountain areas. These towers have solar panels on top for sunlight and are installed at a height of around 3,000 meters above sea level.
The software is designed to differentiate between humans, other animals and snow leopards.
Installing the cameras in the Himalayan mountainous areas was tough, and it required a lot of testing due to the freezing world temperatures. To withstand harsh weather, the WWF had to try several batteries before finding one.
They also picked a special type of paint for the cameras so that it wouldn't reflect light and scare away animals.
An important feature about these cameras is that they keep recording and saving data on their own even if the mobile network fails.
After the project was announced, villagers were sceptical about it and doubted if the project would help them or the snow leopards. Asif Iqbal, a conservationist from WWF, said, "We noticed some of the wires had been cut," adding, "People had thrown blankets over the cameras."
In some places, cameras had to be relocated to protect women's privacy. In a few villages, people have not yet signed consent and privacy agreements, the reason the cameras have yet to be installed.
Sitara, who lost all six of her sheep when a snow leopard attacked them, said, "It was three to four years of hard work raising those animals, and it all ended in one day."
Asked if the AI cameras could help in the future, she replied, "My phone barely gets any service during the day; how can a text help?"
According to the BBC, to prevent snow leopards from encroaching on neighbouring towns and endangering people and livestock, they will begin testing smells, noises, and lights at the camera locations in September.
