Wētā Watcher

The Wētā Watcher Project is a collaboration between Taranaki scientists, community groups and local students. Victor Anton, Founder of Wildlife.ai Trust, said the charitable organisation uses artificial intelligence to monitor wildlife. The Wētā Watcher is a device that monitors wētā and other ground-dwelling species in their native environment.

When the animal crawls under the device, the movement triggers a camera, which records a short video. Wildlife.ai received a grant of $9,000 from Toi Foundation contributed towards producing five new cameras with built-in artificial intelligence technology. The cameras were placed in Egmont National Park in areas of differing predator control.

18 students from the Taranaki Gifted Community Trust have been analysing the results. These results are helping DOC and the Taranaki Maunga Project understand the impact of ongoing predator control and how it affects the biodiversity in Taranaki.

Watch a video on this project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNBvdsOr2yE&feature=youtu.be