Animal detection for area monitoring of security level III animal enclosures in zoos

Status:

completed 07/2023

Aims:

Fatal accidents have occurred at a number of zoos in the past during interactions with tigers or lions. The enclosures in Safety Category III are designed to prevent unintentional contact with particularly dangerous animals (e.g. tigers, lions and other big cats, large bears, great apes and spotted hyenas). However, safe access to these enclosures is entirely dependent on organisational measures. This means that staff must perform all the necessary checks before entering an enclosure to be sure that it is safe to do so. In a first project, weaknesses were identified. Technical measures were developed that support staff and only allow entry into an enclosure when certain criteria are met. For example, all adjacent animal passageways must be locked and cannot be unlocked or opened while access to the enclosure is still possible. This reduces the possibility of mistakes to the presence control of animals.

In the project IFA 5131, two monitoring concepts were identified as promising:

• A transponder system with newly developed RFID transponders that can be implanted in the animals and have a greater read range.
• A camera system that can detect and identify the animals by their fur markings.

The aim of this project was to upgrade these systems and make them suitable for animal detection in zoos, and as a result, to enable the implementation of a technical access restriction measure for maintenance and care personnel responsible for Safety Category III animal enclosures.

Activities/Methods:

The aim of this project was to further investigate the systems developed as part of the IFA 5131 project. The RFID system and the camera-based system were to be tested on the basis of long-term animal studies with goats and tigers in zoos (cooperation with Allwetterzoo Münster [Münster All-Weather Zoo]). The project aimed to optimise the antenna arrangement and the transponder properties for this application. The camera system must offer a consistently high level of detection reliability. Previously, there were cases of incorrect identification. Measures commonly used in machine safety for error prevention and error detection still have to be integrated into the evaluation software of both systems." The project aims to initiate international cooperations. First contact had already been made with cegeka and the KMDA (Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Belgium).

Results:

The project involved two phases in which the suitability of the systems developed in project IFA 5131 was assessed.

• Result of phase 1:
  During laboratory tests, it was determined that the presented concept involving a camera-based system with image analysis was not suitable for use in zoos. Due to the frequent changes in ambient conditions due to the weather or plant growth, as well as changes in the appearance of the animals (summer fur, winter fur), reliable detection of the animals cannot be guaranteed at this time. The basic suitability of the RFID system was confirmed during laboratory tests. Both the mechanical reliability of the transponders and the read range, and therefore the detection reliability, were deemed to be sufficient to determine the location of animals with implanted transponders.
• Result of phase 2:
  The tests that were planned to take place after the laboratory tests, involving an animal in the real environment (animal enclosure), could not be carried out. This was because the zoos that were previously cooperating as part of the project were no longer interested in doing so with the use of an RFID system under the specified conditions. This was likely due to a change in the zoo management personnel and other personnel involved in the project. Agreements that were made during the concept development phase for the transponders regarding the transponder dimensions and the implanting process were no longer acknowledged by the new zoo management team. There were also animal welfare concerns in relation to implanting the transponder in particularly dangerous animals (e.g. tigers) with the animals under anaesthesia.

Cooperation requests sent to other zoos were also unsuccessful. As a result, phase 2 of the present project could not be carried out. In the meantime, the general reservations regarding animal welfare were refuted by a neutral veterinary surgeon. An anonymous survey of the zoo associations will be carried out once again to gather comprehensive information. At the same time, the specific contents of a potential follow-up project should be considered.

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