Technology comes to rescue of Asian elephants

A girl plays with a baby elephant on the National Elephant Day. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Inspur is leveraging cutting-edge technologies to protect endangered species and support ecological preservation.

The company and Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve have joined hands to develop a system for the conservation of Asian elephants. Powered by AI, big data, and cloud computing, this system enables around-the-clock monitoring of the animals and effectively mitigates human-elephant conflict.

The Asian elephant, the largest mammal in Asia, is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List and can be found only in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the southern border of Yunnan.

Decades of preservation efforts have made their amount grow, but the rare species now face another problem of shrinking habitats and many of them roam beyond protected areas into human communities, consuming foods, and raiding crops and farm facilities.

Human-elephant conflict has also posed new challenges to the protection of Asian elephants. Meanwhile, elephants that often stray into human settlements have changed their behavioral patterns. More data is needed for scientists to learn about their new habits and behaviors to inform long-term protection strategies.

According to Inspur, the system enables smart identification in milliseconds with an accuracy of over 96 percent. The system can provide insights into the habits and migratory routes of elephants, which help offer scientific basis for further protective measures regarding to elephants' habitats, food sources, and many other aspects.

"We strive to inspire a better world through intelligent computing. Human, animals, and nature share the same breath. Technology will unveil a new age of harmonious coexistence," said Peter Peng, CEO of Inspur Information.