Animal ID

On the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, ring-tailed lemurs leap through the forest treetops, pausing to groom one another or munch on juicy fruits. After decades of being hunted and having their habitat destroyed, these animals are now in danger of becoming extinct. To help save the lemurs, scientists want to keep tabs on the few individuals that remain in the wild. But with their striped tails and furry, heart-shaped faces, these lemurs can be difficult to tell apart. 

Normally, to monitor a population of animals like lemurs, scientists would have to capture the animals one by one and use different methods to tag them. Researchers might strap colorful bands to animals’ legs, clip markers to their ears, outfit them with GPS collars, or implant tiny trackers under their skin. The tagging process can be stressful to animals. Wearing these devices can also impair their movements and make it hard to hide from predators. 

Some scientists are investigating the use of biometrics as a less disruptive way to identify animals. Biometrics are measurements of physical characteristics unique to individuals. Just as each person on Earth has a different fingerprint, other creatures have distinct features that set them apart from other members of their species. Read on to learn about four methods helping scientists keep track of who’s who in the animal world. 

Ring-tailed lemurs leap through the forest treetops on Madagascar, an island off Africa’s east coast. They stop to groom one another or eat juicy fruits. For decades, these animals have been hunted, and their habitat has been destroyed. Now they’re in danger of becoming extinct. Only a few are left in the wild. To help save the lemurs, scientists want to keep track of them. But their striped tails and furry, heart-shaped faces make these lemurs hard to tell apart.

To track a population of animals like lemurs, scientists normally have to capture them one by one. They use different methods to tag the animals. Researchers might place colorful bands around animals’ legs, markers on their ears, or tiny trackers under their skin. They might also fit the animals with GPS collars. The tagging process can be stressful to animals. Wearing these devices can also make it harder to move and to hide from predators. 

Some scientists are looking into a less stressful way to identify animals. They’d like to use biometrics. These measurements of physical features are unique to each animal. Each person on Earth has a different fingerprint. In the same way, other creatures have features that set them apart from others of their species. These features help scientists keep track of who’s who in the animal world. Read on to learn about four methods they’re using.

From a distance, zebras look almost identical. But in reality, none of these animals have exactly the same black-and-white pattern. This fact led scientists to create Wildbook, a computer program that scans pictures of an animal’s distinctive markings, like a zebra’s stripes, to spot the slight differences that distinguish one animal from another. 

Wildbook works by zooming in on the tiny pixels that make up an image. It looks for places called “hot spots,” areas with large differences between the colors of pixels. The pattern of these hot spots is unique to each zebra. “They’re like fingerprints,” says Tanya Berger-Wolf, a computer scientist at the Ohio State University who co-founded the Wildbook project. 

Growing numbers of people and livestock have caused zebras’ grassland habitat to shrink. Identifying zebras can help scientists learn where herds go to find food. Then, researchers can take steps to protect those areas. 

From a distance, zebras look almost identical. But in reality, none of them have exactly the same black-and-white pattern. This fact led scientists to create Wildbook. It’s a computer program that scans pictures of an animal’s distinctive markings, like zebra’s stripes. The program spots slight differences between individual animals.

Wildbook works by zooming in on the tiny pixels that make up an image. It looks for places called “hot spots.” These areas have big differences between the colors of pixels. Each zebra has a uniqye pattern of hot spots. “They’re like fingerprints,” says Tanya Berger-Wolf. She’s a computer scientist at the Ohio State University who co-founded the Wildbook project.

Growing numbers of people and livestock have caused zebras’ grassland habitat to shrink. Identifying zebras can help scientists learn where herds go to find food. Then they can take steps to protect those areas.

In 1921, farmers discovered they could tell the difference between cows by their noseprints. Tiny ridges on a cow’s nose form a pattern specific to that individual. But preparing these prints was a hassle—farmers had to cover each cow’s nose with ink and press it onto a piece of paper. Nearly 100 years later, scientists have found a much easier way to identify cows by their one-of-a-kind snouts. 

Researchers at Beni-Suef University in Egypt took digital photos of cows’ noses. Then they processed the pictures using an algorithm—a procedure a computer follows to perform a specific task. The program removed features from each image that didn’t contain useful information so that only a unique pattern of ridges remained. 

Using the high-tech noseprints, the software could correctly identify individual cows 96 percent of the time. Scientists hope that someday this technology will help ranchers distinguish cattle for breeding purposes, keep them up-to-date on vaccinations, and track illnesses that could spread through a herd. 

In 1921, farmers made an interesting find. They could tell cows apart by their noseprints. Tiny ridges on a cow’s nose form a pattern. It’s different for each cow. But making these prints was a hassle. Farmers had to cover each cow’s nose with ink and press it onto a piece of paper. Nearly 100 years later, scientists are still identifying cows by their one-of-a-kind noses. But they’ve found a much easier way. 

Researchers at Beni-Suef University in Egypt took digital photos of cows’ noses. Then they processed the pictures with a procedure called an algorithm. A computer follows an algorithm to perform a specific task. Some features in the images weren’t useful, so the program removed them. Only a unique pattern of ridges remained. 

The software used the high-tech noseprints to identify individual cows. It was correct 96 percent of the time. Scientists hope that ranchers will use this technology someday. It could help tell cattle apart for breeding, keeping them up-to-date on vaccinations, and tracking illnesses that could spread through a herd.