By George Styllis
From a distance, you might be fooled into thinking this rare Chinese antelope is real – until it starts walking, when its rigid gait betrays it as motor and metal masquerading as flesh and blood.
But luckily this doesn’t seem to put off the herds of real animals on the rugged tundra where the robot ungulate has been deployed.
The Xinhua news agency reported that, having successfully joined a group, the cyber antelope is doing its job of gathering valuable information about the migration, feeding and mating behaviours of the endangered species endemic to Tibet.
Developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hangzhou-based DEEP Robotics, the robot antelope is equipped with 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence vision systems, enabling real-time monitoring of its environment.
Its handlers hope it will succeed where humans and camera traps struggle in gathering more precise and reliable footage and data to better protect the wildlife.
The antelope can operate at a distance of up to two kilometres in open terrain and navigate rugged slopes and muddy wetlands, Meng Yuan, a DEEP Robotics representative, told the Global Times on Monday.
Lian Xinming, the project’s head and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua: “The robot’s AI vision recognition system can capture real-time data on the Tibetan antelopes’ migration patterns, feeding behaviours and the growth of their young.
“This data is then transmitted via 5G networks to a backend platform for instant analysis, generating detailed reports that offer valuable insights for scientific research and conservation efforts.”
Tibetan antelopes, also known as chiru, are a small species native to the Qinghai-Xizang plateau.
The area is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, with the average annual temperature reaching below freezing and winter temperatures liable to drop below minus 40 degrees.
The chiru have adapted to the conditions thanks to their thick, woolly coats and underfur that is among the lightest and warmest in the world.
A shawl made from their wool can sell for £11,000 ($22,800) and might require the hides of three to five antelopes to produce. To obtain the fur, the antelopes have to be killed.
With rising demand for their fur over the years, the number of animals has plummeted.
The population was estimated to be as many as 1 million or more at the beginning of the 20th century. By the mid-1990s, numbers had fallen to less than 75,000, mainly because of poaching.
The Telegraph, London
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