TheGujaratforest department has developed an (AI)-based photo-identification Software, specially designed to distinguish patterns/marks to identifyAsiaticlions individually. The software is namedSIMBA(Software with Intelligence Marking Based identification of Asiatic lions.)
According to the forest department, computer-assisted photo-identification is a helpful tool for understanding Population demographics and expanding conservation and management efforts. The persistent identification of individuals significantly enhances conservation and management efforts and ecological aspects of the species.
Natural marks are used for non-invasive individual identification in several species, often through photographic comparison. Such identifications recognise unique marks, patterns, shapes of particular body parts or scars.
The software also extracts the uniqueness from the photograph and can cluster similar patterns. The SIMBA is trained with data. So, the identity is estimated by the uniqueness within the whisker spot patterns or other marks on the Asiatic lion’s face or ear.