A project presented by the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) can identify individual gorillas in the zoo from video recordings and observe them over longer periods of time. With the "Gorilla Tracker" project from the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems department, HPI has developed a system that can be used to automatically recognize gorillas from videos. The technology is based on deep learning and computer vision and enables the tracking of gorillas' movements and behavior. The AI searches for gorillas and their faces within the images recorded by the installed cameras.
A specially trained neural network analyzes the specific facial features and uses them to create a digital fingerprint. By closely observing the gorillas in their natural habitat using cameras, valuable insights into their behavior are gained. The collected data is used to train the AI models and thus react specifically to disease outbreaks. This supports the researchers in Odzala National Park in the Republic of Congo.
The data collected can be used to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage and take timely protective measures. The western lowland gorilla is on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the animals are threatened with extinction. The population has declined by 80 percent over the past 70 years. The project partner is the team led by primatologist Magdalena Bermejo from Sabine Plattner African Charities (SPAC), also part of the Hasso Plattner Foundation network.
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