The quest to develop automated systems for monitoring animal behavior

Automated behavior analysis (ABA) strategies are being researched at a rapid rate to detect an array of behaviors across a range of species. There is growing optimism that soon ethologists will not have to manually decode hours (and hours) of animal behavior videos, but that instead computers will process them for us. However, before we […]

Spatial and Temporal Variability in the Foraging Areas of Breeding King Penguins

King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) from breeding islands in the Indian Ocean (Crozet and Kerguelen Islands) and the Atlantic Ocean (South Georgia and Falkland Islands) were equipped with global location sensors to compare their foraging patterns during different times of the year. In summer, all birds investigated traveled toward the Antarctic Polar Front (APF), irrespective of […]

Analysis of animal monitoring technologies in Germany from an innovation system perspective

In order to address societal demands (e.g., animal welfare, traceability, environmental aspects), animal monitoring (AM) technologies provide much potential for innovation in animal production. AM means the real time and on-going automatic monitoring by ‘smart’ sensors of physiological, growth and behaviour parameters of individual farming animals, integrated in various areas (e.g., animal milking, feeding, breeding, […]