Scientists want to track 1,000 cattle and buffalo using satellites in space. In northern Australia, there are about 22,000 buffalo roaming freely in a remote area called Arnhem Land. However, the exact number is unknown. These animals cause a lot of damage to the environment.
Steven Craig, who gathers livestock, said, “Seeing what these buffalos do to the land is devastating.” Feral buffaloes can be very large, up to 188 cm tall and weighing 1,200 kg. They eat a lot of grass and other plants, damage rock art, trample ceremonial sites, and harm culturally important waterways.
Buffaloes, along with cattle, are a big problem for both the environment and the economy of Northern Australia.
Integrating AI and Satellite Tech with Indigenous Wisdom
What if wild animals could be controlled from space?
Scientists, along with stockmen and Indigenous rangers, are working on a four-year project called SpaceCows. This project uses AI and satellites to monitor wild animals. The Australian government’s Smart Farming Partnership initiative supports it.
Local rangers and stockmen catch the fast animals and attach solar-powered GPS tags to them.
The tag information is sent straight to a satellite in space, which is about 650 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. This transmission can last for up to two years or until the tags are no longer working.
In 2021, the government agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), worked with Microsoft to create a digital platform for SpaceCows and AI algorithms.
Microsoft says that combining the satellite system with its cloud service Azure works better in the rough terrain and tough conditions of northern Australia compared to regular wireless technology.
Microsoft technologies create a digital copy of the land, using information about the terrain and weather.
Once the rangers figure out where the animals usually are, they can focus on protecting those areas. This might involve putting up fences or reducing their numbers.
“There’s not much monitoring happening in these places. So now, we’re starting to gather that information and understand the health of the animals,” explained Andrew Hoskins, a senior researcher at CSIRO.
If this works, it could be one of the biggest systems for managing herds from far away.
“This is a really big tracking project, probably one of the largest when it comes to following wildlife or buffalo,” said Hoskins.
