A hi-tech plan to generate big data sets will help protect Australian wildlife from disasters like the Black Summer bushfires. 7NEWS
When the Black Summer bushfires tore along Australia's east coast, authorities were left to guess the death toll for koalas and other threatened species.
Footage will be sent to the Queensland University of Technology to be scanned by the AI algorithm, which essentially allows computers to "see". "As the Black Summer bushfires showed, we simply don't know what's out there. The huge benefit of this is being able to cover a lot of ground quickly," he said.The $1.5 million project has been funded by WIRES, Australia's largest wildlife rescue organisation and Landcare with in-kind support from the university.
More than 60,000 koalas were killed or injured in the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfire disaster, WWF Australia calculated.Meanwhile, the 2022 Queensland budget will allocate almost $40 million to help protect the state's native flora and fauna.
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