AI helps rangers monitor wildlife in Australia
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Rangers in West Arnhem, Australia, partnered with researchers from Warddeken Land Management, Charles Darwin University, and CSIRO to test how artificial intelligence could improve their wildlife monitoring work.
The Mayh program, an Indigenous-led community-based monitoring initiative within the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, uses camera traps to track animals important for both cultural and conservation reasons. The team fed 1,572 hours of camera trap data into the MegaDetector AI model, seeking a way to lessen the burden of image analysis.
MegaDetector significantly reduced the workload for the bininj (male) and daluk (female) rangers. The AI cut the number of images requiring review from over 925,000 to around 172,000, shortening processing time from six months to two. This allowed rangers to spend less time on data processing, reducing it by over 10 hours every two weeks, and more time on other important tasks like species identification, language documentation, and creating educational resources.
The collaboration prioritized maintaining local knowledge and employment, ensuring people remained central to the monitoring process. Rangers reported increased job satisfaction and developed new digital skills they are now sharing with younger generations. Suzanna Nabulwad, a senior daluk ranger, highlighted the importance of consulting with elders to use technology respectfully and effectively for Country management.
