The app includes about 1,000 butterfly species and uses machine learning to accurately identify them in a matter of seconds.
Users who record 25 additional butterflies will get a free jungle safari from the forest department.
Chandrapur: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve has achieved a significant milestone at the national level towards biodiversity conservation and promoting citizen science. Tadoba has brought about the convergence of technology and forest conservation by launching an innovative mobile app ‘LepiScan Butterfly ID’ based on artificial intelligence (AI). The forest department said that this is the first offline AI app developed by any tiger reserve in the country that can accurately identify butterfly species without internet or mobile network.
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The app was launched by Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik on the eve of International Tiger Day. Forest Secretary Milind Mhaiskar, Mitra CEO Praveen Pardeshi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Forest Force Chief Srinivas Rao, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) M. S. Reddy and senior forest department officials were present on this occasion. (Photo courtesy – AI Created)
Developed by a team of in-house developers of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, this app will be very useful for nature lovers, students, researchers, wildlife scholars and common citizens. With the help of machine learning technology in mobile, this app provides accurate information about the species of a butterfly by scanning its photo in a few moments, even when there is no internet or mobile network available. Therefore, it will now be easier to identify butterflies even in remote forest areas. This app has included 1,000 butterfly species.
Currently, tourists and nature lovers are showing great curiosity about tigers and other wildlife and butterflies. However, it is difficult to identify the species in forest areas without network. The ‘LepiScan’ app, created by our in-house developers, will help in increasing the participation of citizens in biodiversity conservation by removing this problem. – Prabhunath Shukla, Project Director, Tadoba-Andhari Project.
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Free safari for 25 entries
To encourage citizen science, the forest department has also added an incentive to this app. Users who register 25 additional butterflies will be given a free jungle safari. The app is available for free on Google Play Store and the Butterfly ID facility has also been launched in the Citizen Science section of the official website of Tadoba. Considering the privacy of the users, special emphasis has been given to keeping personal information safe in this app. The forest department has clarified that no geographical movement of the users will be tracked.
(Disclaimer: This is an automated news feed of Navrashtra newspaper. It is not edited by the staff of navarashtra.com.)