Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been widely applied in a national park in Northwest China to track snow leopards inhabiting the region.
The Al-aided digital toolbox can automatically(自动地) distinguish the species in the Qilian Mountains National Park, Gansu province, from other wildlife, using images captured by infrared cameras(红外相机). The technology, jointly developed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, the World Wild Fund and One Planet Foundation, can thus improve data processing efficiency.
Located at around 3, 500 meters above sea level, the Qilian Mountains with vast stretches of bare rocks reaching from the grass provide a favorable hideaway shelter for the snow leopards.
Though more than 200 cameras have been put in the region, sorting out relevant information had not been easy for researchers.
“For conducting further studies on the population, distribution and activities of the snow leopards, a flagship species in the region, the cameras would capture hundreds of thousands of video clips and photos every quarter,” said Ma Duifang with the administration bureau of the park's Gansu section.
“Even a slight movement in the environment, such as a mild breeze blowing over the grass, can activate the cameras. Sometimes, curious wildlife bumps into the device triggering the shutter(触发快门), and the cameras take pictures of mere clouds,” Ma added.
Ma and his colleagues had to go through each video frame by frame(逐帧地). The information of species that appeared on the images also required human input, so it often took them several weeks to complete such tasks.
Tencent’s engineering team has independently developed a species recognition algorithm(算法) by means of transfer leaning and automatic data enhancement. Thanks to Al technologies, researchers in the Qilian Mountains National Park no longer need to work like mad in search of leopards hiding out in the wild.
“The forest police can now locate a snow leopard from 1, 000 pictures in just about 20 minutes, much faster than before,” said Huang Xiangqi, one of the tech developers.
Snow leopards are under China’s highest national-level protection and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
In China, they can be spotted in cold areas in southwestern, northwestern, and northern regions including Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia.
“We hope we can combine monitoring data with field investigation to help researchers identify the wild species so as to draw up a more specific plan for their protection,” said Ma Yao, director of the project, hoping the digital toolbox can he used in more countries.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?
A.Infrared cameras can distinguish the species automatically. |
B.AI technology can improve the quality of the infrared cameras. |
C.Tencent helped develop infrared cameras for Qilian Mountain National Park |
D.AI technology has greatly improved the efficiency of identifying snow leopards. |
2. What can be learnt about the infrared cameras?
A.They mostly take pictures of clouds. |
B.They are only set off by curious wildlife. |
C.They are also used to monitor the weather. |
D.Their operation will be affected by many factors. |
3. What is the researchers’ attitude towards this new technology?
A.Cautious. | B.Optimistic. | C.Objective. | D.Doubtful. |
4. What could be the best title of the passage?
A.AI Technology Used to Capture Snow Leopard |
B.Infrared Cameras Placed to Track Snow Leopard |
C.AI-aided tech Developed for Snow Leopard Protection |
D.AI Technology Developed to Improve Data Processing Efficiency |