AI is being used in the U.K. to hand out squirrel contraception, which conservationists hope can save an imperiled species.
Squirrel Agent is a new software tool trained to distinguish between red and grey squirrels with 97% accuracy, BBC reported. Grey squirrels arrived in the country around 200 years ago and are largely responsible for the population decline of the native reds, partly due to a virus they carry that is lethal to red squirrels.
To help solve the problem, Squirrel Agent automatically controls squirrel feeders once it has identified who is visiting. Only reds get access to feeders with food, while greys get access to feeders with contraceptive paste.
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"It's a real showcase of what AI can do," Emma McClenaghan, co-founder of Genysys Engine, which developed the tool, told BBC. "It's working in real time to do a task that we don't have enough [human] volunteers to do."
This is not the first time conservationists have used AI tools to help save species. The advent of AI has generally led to more environmental concerns than solutions overall due to the energy and resources used, but machine learning has increasingly been used in recent years to tackle ecological problems that could otherwise be difficult or more costly to address.
For instance, a drone company and an AI firm are teaming up to track milkweed, a plant vital to the monarch butterfly's reproductive cycle. Plus, scientists are using AI to help identify a disease that is devastating coral.
According to the National Trust, red squirrels are critical in the regeneration of pine woodlands. This directly benefits people, as U.K. woodlands are estimated to store more than 23 million tons of planet-warming pollution each year, per The Wildlife Trusts.
While both red and grey squirrels spread the seeds of trees, National Trust explains, reds are specially adapted to this particular ecosystem, feeding on the seeds of pine cones in the country. Meanwhile, greys favor broadleaved woodlands, where many other animals already help spread seeds.
"If red squirrels became extinct in the U.K., it would not only have a negative impact on our pine woodland regeneration, but we would also lose one of our most iconic native mammals," the organization says.
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