{"id":22,"date":"2016-11-24T15:09:25","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T15:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dereklee.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=22"},"modified":"2016-11-25T19:07:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T19:07:53","slug":"big-data-for-big-animals-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/22\/big-data-for-big-animals-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Data for Big Animals: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so naturally scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from the Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the biggest large mammal studies ever undertaken by studying births, deaths, and movements of more than 2,000 giraffe across a 4,000 square kilometer landscape in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania, East Africa.<\/p>\n

Dr. Derek Lee, Principal Scientist of the Wild Nature Institute said, \u201cGiraffe are big animals, so naturally we are using big data to learn where they are doing well, where they are not, and why, so we can protect and connect the areas important to giraffe conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giraffe populations have sharply declined across Africa due to habitat loss and illegal killing for meat. \u201cWe needed new tools to help save giraffes, and there was a perfect storm of technology that made our work possible,\u201d said Lee.<\/p>\n

Wild Nature Institute scientists use digital photographs of each animal\u2019s unique and unchanging spot patterns to identify them throughout their lives. However, the analysis process is very manually intensive and time-consuming. Many thousands of photos have to be processed per year, and for every photo the giraffe body in the image has to be manually cropped to provide just a giraffe torso to the pattern recognition software<\/a>. To aid this process, Microsoft scientists have provided an image processing service to automate the process using machine learning technology deployed on the Microsoft Azure cloud.<\/a><\/p>\n

Using a computer vision object detection algorithm, the Microsoft team trained a program to recognize giraffe torsos using some existing annotated giraffe photos. The program was iteratively improved using an efficient Active Learning process, where the system identified new images and showed its predicted cropping squares on these images to a human who could quickly verify or correct the results. These new images were then fed back into training algorithm to further update and improve the program.\u00a0 The resulting system identifies the location of giraffe torsos in images with a very high accuracy, as can be seen in the example results in the images below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Picture\" <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

The new system dramatically speeds up the important research being performed by the Wild Nature Institute scientists. \u201cIt is wonderful how the Azure team automated this tedious aspect of our work,\u201d said Dr. Derek Lee, Principal Scientist and CEO at Wild Nature Institute. \u201cIt used to take us a week to process our new images after a survey, now it is done in minutes!\u201d<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n

Part 1: Matching Photos of the Same Giraffe Using Virtual Supercomputers<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 3: Velocity, Volume, and Variety in Tall Data for Giraffe Conservation (coming soon)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so naturally scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from the Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the biggest large mammal studies ever undertaken by studying births, deaths, and movements of more than 2,000 giraffe across a 4,000 square kilometer landscape in the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":26,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[8,6,7],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology","category-wildlife-conservation","tag-derek-lee","tag-giraffe","tag-wild-nature-institute"],"yoast_head":"\nBig Data for Big Animals: Part 2 - Derek Lee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/22\/big-data-for-big-animals-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Data for Big Animals: Part 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so naturally scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from the Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the biggest large mammal studies ever undertaken by studying births, deaths, and movements of more than 2,000 giraffe across a 4,000 square kilometer landscape in the ... 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Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/author\/dereklee\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/11\/4220325_orig.png?fit=659%2C220&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNOJ-m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/23\/big-data-for-big-animals-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":0},"title":"Big Data for Big Animals: Part 3","author":"Derek Lee","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Nature Institute Giraffe Research Uses Big Data Tools Part 3: Velocity, Volume, and Variety in Tall Data for Giraffe Conservation Giraffes are big animals, so scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from the Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the largest-scale big mammal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/10\/big-data-for-big-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":1},"title":"Big Data for Big Animals","author":"Derek Lee","date":"November 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Nature Institute Giraffe Research Uses High Tech Big Data Tools Part 1: Matching Giraffe Photos Using Virtual Supercomputers Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so it is no surprise that scientists have turned to them to apply big data solutions to wildlife conservation. \u00a0Researchers from the Wild Nature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe torso photos used to identify more than 3000 individual giraffes as part of the world's largest giraffe study.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/11\/4917765_orig-e1479998973165.png?fit=450%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":189,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/189\/wild-nature-institute-penn-state-and-microsoft-azure-work-together-to-find-the-giraffe-in-the-bushes\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":2},"title":"Wild Nature Institute, Penn State, and Microsoft Azure Work Together to Find the Giraffe in the Bushes","author":"Derek Lee","date":"February 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so naturally scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from Penn State and Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the biggest large mammal studies ever undertaken by studying births, deaths, and movements of more than 3,000 giraffes across\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe torso photos used to identify more than 3000 individual giraffes as part of the world's largest giraffe study.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/11\/4917765_orig-e1479998973165.png?fit=450%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/31\/we-need-you-to-become-a-giraffe-hero\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":3},"title":"We Need You To Become A Giraffe Hero","author":"Derek Lee","date":"December 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Since the announcement that giraffes are Vulnerable to Extinction, many concerned people have asked me what they can do to help save giraffes. Giving money and\/or time to conservation groups like Wild Nature Institute is a great first action to help giraffes. Whatever your skill set, there is an important\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":163,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/163\/seeing-spots-new-study-reveals-the-giraffe-babies-inherit-spot-patterns-from-their-mothers-and-certain-spot-traits-improve-newborn-survival\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":4},"title":"Seeing Spots: New Study Reveals the Giraffe Babies Inherit Spot Patterns from Their Mothers and Certain Spot Traits Improve Newborn Survival","author":"Derek Lee","date":"October 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"50-year-old Hypothesis Confirmed with Modern Techniques The beautiful coat patterns of giraffes are individually unique and don\u2019t change with age, but their origins and purpose were a mystery. A new study found wild giraffe spot pattern traits were heritable, passed down from mother to offspring, and certain spot traits improved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/09\/INFORGRAPHICspots.jpg?fit=776%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/09\/INFORGRAPHICspots.jpg?fit=776%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/09\/INFORGRAPHICspots.jpg?fit=776%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/09\/INFORGRAPHICspots.jpg?fit=776%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/124\/giraffe-skin-disease-linked-to-soil-fertility\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":5},"title":"Giraffe Skin Disease Linked to Soil Fertility","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Giraffe Skin Disease is a disorder of the skin that is characterized by crusty lesions on the back side of the front legs of adult Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) the only subspecies in Tanzania.\u00a0Lesions such as the ones shown in this picture on the forelimbs indicate Giraffe Skin Disease.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe in Tarangire National Park","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}