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What is Wildlife Photo Identification (WPI)?

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What is Wildlife Photo Identification (WPI)?

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Photo identification is used to identify and track individuals from an animal population over an extended length of time. Photographs are taken with phones, digital cameras, and even camera traps. These images usually focus on a distinctive morphological feature such as skin patterns or scarring to help distinguish individuals.
Photos are analyzed via computer-assisted matching programs and even manually, by eye, to assess migratory patterns and behavioral and social relationships of a particular species.

Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

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WPI is an alternative to mark and recapture methods. Mark and recapture is a technique used to estimate population size. Individuals within a population are captured, marked, and released with artificial or satellite tags, mutilations, or paint/dye tags in which they can be tracked over a period of time. Once time has passed, a sample of individuals are captured for a second time, in which some of these individuals would be marked from the first capture.

According to Speed (2007), mark and recapture methods are becoming less preferred by researchers because of the following reasons:

Artificial tags and bands can be lost over time

The process of handling, restraining, and tagging an animal can be stressful and disruptive

Depending on how they are placed, artificial marks can change an animal's natural behavior and performance

By Phillip Colla (http://www.marinecsi.org/pop-up-satellite-tags/) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

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To understand the conservation needs of a species, data on its current condition needs to be collected. Identifying individuals allows researchers to come up with solutions on how to save a species.

Wildlife photo identification is beneficial in the following ways:

Estimating population trends: how many species live within a designated area and how many individuals make up these populations.

Tracking migratory trends of individual animals to predict larger migratory routes for the species.

Determining behavioral patterns and relationships: how do individuals interact with each other and how are families structured.

Opportunity for citizen scientists to take photographs of animals to be submitted for studies.

Computer software for processing photos is free, although time is needed to install and become familiar with the program.

Photographs can be stored within a data program or digital library for infinite amounts of time, allowing future researchers to take over the study.

Easy upload of photos allows for comparisons across study sites and regions over time.

Photographers expand horizons in 2010 Army Digital Photography Contest 110311

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Every technology has its flaws, despite making our lives easier and by saving us time.

Here are the disadvantages to wildlife photo identification:

Poor image quality including poor clarity, angle, distinctiveness and partial images can discredit a photo and lead researchers to reject the photo from the study.

Taking ideal photographs of animals is based on the "perfect environment": good lighting, good water quality etc.

Photo libraries store high numbers of photos beyond manual analysis. Processing photos is labor intensive.

Computer-assisted matching programs assume that animal patterns are unchanging and may not recognize the same animal over time if any changes occur (Davies, 2012).

Human error frequently occurs with manual photo processing, leading researchers to draw incorrect conclusions about animal populations.

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Can you spot the differences?
Did you find all of them?
Are you sure?

In addition to using computer-assisted matching programs, researchers manually compare photographs to distinguish individuals. This method of processing images is subject to human error often leading to misidentification and lower confidence in results (Schofield, 2008).

Spot the difference image, based on Dawg by feraliminal, on Open Clip Art (1282579200).

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Loggerhead Sea Turtles can be individually identified by facial markings. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses WPI to identify individuals within endangered breeding populations. WPI is particularly beneficial in identifying male loggerheads as they rarely haul onto land for the mark and recapture process. (Schofield, 2007).

Photo by Randall Ruiz on Unsplash

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Project Giraffe, conducted by the Wild Nature Institute is one study that heavily depends on WPI to estimate the Masai Giraffe population in the African savanna. Due to habitat loss, disease, and illegal hunting, giraffe numbers are dwindling.

Researchers in Tanzania are using WPI to track individual giraffes, identifying them by their unique spot patterns. Based on results from the study, researchers are able to evaluate human-giraffe interactions and track movements of the giraffe population (Lee, 2016).

Photo by Howard Malone on Unsplash

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The whale shark is the perfect candidate for a WPI study. Each shark has a distinct pattern of lines and spots behind the gill slits and above the pectoral fin (Davies, 2012). Whale sharks are also large and swim slower at the surface, which allows ecotourism operations to participate in photographing individuals of this endangered species.  (Davies, 2012).

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

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Brooks, K., Rowat, D., Pierce, S., Jouanneet, D., & Vely, M. (2010). Seeing spots: photo-identification as a regional tool for whale shark identification. Western Indian Ocean J. Mar. Sci., 9:2, 185-194.

Davies, T., Stevens, G., Meekan, M., Struve, J., & Rowcliffe, J. (2012). Can citizen science monitor whale-shark aggregations? Investigating bias in mark-recapture modelling using identification photographs sourced from the public. Wildlife Research, 39, 696-704.

Fisheries, N. (2014, May 15). Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta). Retrieved March 4, 2018, from http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/loggerhead.html

Lee, D.E. & Strauss, M.K.L. (2016). Giraffe demography and population ecology. Reference Module in Earth Sciences and Environmental Studies.

Masai Giraffe Conservation Project. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2018, from http://www.wildnatureinstitute.org/giraffe.html

Schofield, G., Katselidis, K., Dimopoulos, P., & Pantis, J. (2008). Investigating the viability of photo-identification as an objective tool to study endangered sea turtle populations. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 360, 103-108.

Speed, C., Meekan, M., & Bradshaw, C. (2007). Spot the match- wildlife photo-identification using information theory. Frontiers in Zoology, 4:2.