Saving species, one ‘Crittercam’ at a time

As jaguars, African elephants and polar bears remain on the endangered species list, a university researcher is helping develop a device to ensure these animals' names do not cross over to extinction.

Electrical and computer engineering professor Nuno Martins has teamed up with colleagues at Princeton University and the National Geographic Society to create a device scientists could attach to endangered animals to record how they interact with each other and with other species. The project was awarded a four-year $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation in September, and Martins hopes this work will open a new window into the lives of the world's most threatened species.

"It may unveil social interactions among animals that would not have otherwise been seen," Martins said. "We're hoping we'll be able to make similar conclusions and discover new things."

Martins said the device, which likely won't be available for use for another couple of years, will be an improved version of Crittercam. When attached to an animal, Crittercam — which National Geographic created 25 years ago — records video, audio and environmental data and detaches from the animal when the battery dies.

Unlike the Crittercam, Martins said the new device would be able to communicate with those attached to other animals, enabling researchers to better understand the dynamics within a group, such as which animals interact more closely and which animal is the leader.

"Our idea is to create a new generation of [Crittercam] where you have several devices working together," he said. "The whole idea is to equip the devices with communication so they can communicate with each other and work as a group."

Martins said the new device will also transmit a live feed of coarse video back to researchers through a satellite, allowing them to continuously monitor both the animals and the devices themselves.

"What we're doing is building a collection of devices that will be mobile, and we have to figure out how they can communicate to track the relevant behavior of animals," Martins said. "It's the issue of having several devices that collaborate for a global task."

Martins said the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation in Canada have volunteered to test the device on a species of caribou when the first model becomes available.

University entomology professor Daniel Gruner, who studies how different species interact and coexist, said monitoring endangered species is critical to any efforts to save them.

"You want to identify the species in danger of extinction, and the ultimate goal is to remove them from [the endangered species] list, and I don't see any way you can do that unless you're monitoring how they're doing," Gruner said. "If we are to invest the resources to identify declining species and the threats that face them and then design conservation and recovery actions, we then throw that effort away if we do not monitor the outcomes."

saravia@umdbk.com