<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/rhinoso_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/rhinoso_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/rhinoso_0.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Infrared image of rhinos in South Africa. (Endangered Wildlife Trust/LJMU) (Endangered Wildlife Trust/LJMU)

At a Glance A drone-based technique developed by the astro-ecologists allows access to large, hard to reach areas to monitor wildlife without disturbing the animals.

It also helps ecologists observe and identify the animals at night when poaching typically occurs.

A unique collaboration between astronomers and ecologists at a U.K. university is hoping to save endangered species by stopping poaching.

By using astrophysical software used by NASA to track stars, artificial intelligence and thermal infrared imagery captured by drones, Liverpool John Moores University's Serge Wich, a conservation professor at the School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, and Steve Longmore of the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) are able to observe animals at night.

The technique allows the scientists to access large, hard to reach areas and monitor wildlife without disturbing the animals. It also helps ecologists observe and identify the animals at night when poaching typically occurs , according to a press release.

“With thermal infrared cameras, we can easily see animals as a result of their body heat, day or night, and even when they are camouflaged in their natural environment. Since animals and humans in thermal footage 'glow' in the same way as stars and galaxies in space, we have been able to combine the technical expertise of astronomers with the conservation knowledge of ecologists to develop a system to find the animals or poachers automatically," said ARI's Claire Burke, who presented the findings this week at the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society in Liverpool.

The technique uses machine-learning algorithms and astronomical detection tools developed with the open source software, Astropy, according to the press release.

After some initial testing on nearby farm animals, the scientists teamed up with the Knowsley Safari and Chester Zoo to create libraries of imagery that "train the software to recognize different types of animals in different types of landscape and vegetation," according to the release.

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Last year, the team embarked on field testing in South Africa to detect Riverine rabbits, one of the most endangered species of mammal in the world.

"The rabbits are very small, so we flew the drone quite low to the ground at a height of 20 meters. Although this limited the area we could cover with the drone, we managed five sightings. Given that there have only been about 1000 sightings of Riverine rabbits by anyone in total, it was a real success,” Burke said.

Next up for the team of astro-ecologists, as they now call themselves, is more field testing in Malaysia next month, where they will try to locate orangutans. They also have plans to track spider monkeys in Mexico in May and river dolphins in Brazil in June.

The ultimate goal of the project, Burke said, is to "make a system that is easy for conservationists and game wardens to use anywhere in the world, which will allow endangered animals to be tracked, found and monitored easily and poaching to be stopped before it happens."