FIT enough to be this cheetah?

Ever wondered if night vision cameras were the best way to see which animals are walking around a natural reserve? Well, if your job title doesn't happen to be zoologist, then that's probably not the case. Nevertheless, with many incredible species like the Black Rhino or the Amur Leopard having only a few thousand if not hundred of individuals left in the wild, tracking single animals plays a crucial part in conservation efforts.

That is why today's post is about FIT, a footprint identification technique developed by the software non-profit Wildtracks. FIT provides a non-invasive system of analyzing photos taken of animal tracks and, combining ancient techniques from indigenous communities and data points from previous findings, telling which individual animal left the trace. Used initially on cheetas, it identified the individual by analyzing the trace with a 99% accuracy. So, if you thought only humans were constantly monitored, even a lonely tiger in the forest might soon not be able to go about its business without someone else knowing about it.

Personally, I think this is a great story of a digital innovation providing a cheap alternative, especially since it holds the potential to leverage the efforts of a much wider range of people who aren't scientists in gathering data that will help keep cheetas running around for a long time.

So if you visit wildlife reserves, being a bit of an animal stalker sounds like fun and are looking for a way to contribute to conservation efforts, contacting these guys might be for you. If not, then I hope you enjoyed the read!