Posted on September, 02 2024

In a promising new development, WWF Germany and the multi-technology company, International Business Machine Corporation (IBM) announced a partnership to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for safeguarding Africa's threatened forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) whose existence is key in maintaining the health of the rainforest, making their protection critical for biodiversity and the ecosystem.

Unlike their savannah cousins, these elusive elephants are hidden deep within the rainforest, making traditional survey methods ineffective. But now, with AI in the mix, there's renewed hope.
The AI software, "IBM Maximo Visual Inspection," will analyze camera trap images to identify individual elephants with unprecedented accuracy. This breakthrough could revolutionize how we monitor forest elephant populations, providing reliable estimates and revealing critical movement pattern for the first time. This data could directly inform conservation policies, leading to more targeted and effective protection measures.
"Counting forest elephants has always been a challenge, and the numbers we have are often imprecise. AI offers the potential to change that, giving us reliable data on population sizes and movement patterns. With this knowledge, we can better protect these animals and better manage human-wildlife conflicts," says Dr. Thomas Breuer, African Forest Elephant Coordinator and Senior Program Officer for Central & West Africa at WWF.

Forest elephants in Central Africa are under severe threat, with their numbers plummeting by more than 80% over the past three decades, leaving fewer than 150,000 remaining. Poaching for ivory and habitat loss are the main drivers of this decline, but climate change is likely to impact them severely soon.

To combat this, WWF is focused on strengthening local protections, enhancing legal frameworks against ivory trade, and promoting conservation efforts that benefit both elephants and local communities within and beyond protected areas. For decades, WWF has been active in key regions of the Congo Basin, including Dzanga-Sangha in the Central African Republic, Lobéké in Cameroon, and Salonga in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The insights gained from this AI initiative are expected to bolster these ongoing efforts.