PREVIEW

Artificial Intelligence 'Set To Save The Red Squirrel’. Artificial intelligence (AI) could help bring back the red squirrel across Britain thanks to a new squirrel feeder. Red squirrels were once common across the UK, until the spread of the Eastern grey squirrel wiped them out across large parts of England. However, a new tool capable of distinguishing between red and grey squirrels with remarkable accuracy is being hailed as a potential game changer by conservationists. The system, known as Squirrel Agent, has been trained on thousands of images, enabling it to identify the two species with 97% accuracy, according to its developers Genysys Engine. Company co-founder Emma McClenaghan, says: “We created a squirrel agent that can detect red or grey squirrels with their features, and we use this data to carry out multiple actions.” It can automatically manage access to squirrel feeders—allowing red squirrels to feed while steering grey squirrels towards feeders containing contraceptive paste. The tool is currently being trialled at various sites across the UK in collaboration with five wildlife charities. Future upgrades aim to include whisker recognition technology, which is unique to each squirrel. This would allow researchers to track individual animals, monitor family lines, and build a more detailed picture of population dynamics over time.