Combining forces will increase AI’s impact on planetary health and ending extinction
WASHINGTON, DC — January 9, 2024 — Conservation X Labs (“CXL”) and Wild Me announced today that they are merging to combine their strengths in AI towards a shared vision of preventing the sixth mass extinction. Wild Me, a nonprofit that develops AI tools for collaborative, international wildlife conservation, has become part of Conservation X Labs, a technology and innovation organization dedicated to creatively disrupting the field of conservation.
“In this pivotal moment for our planet, we are thrilled to welcome the Wild Me team and community to Conservation X Labs. Wild Me and CXL share a passion for utilizing cutting-edge data and technology to deliver the greatest impact. We believe in the enormous potential of AI for conservation, and look forward to combining forces to empower conservationists worldwide. ”
Wild Me was founded by Jason Holmberg, Dr. Zavan Arzoumanian, and Dr. Tanya Berger-Wolf. It is responsible for the creation of Codex, Wildbook, and Scout, open source software platforms that blend structured wildlife research with artificial intelligence, citizen science, and computer vision to speed population analysis, individual reidentification, and develop new insights to help fight extinction. These platforms leverage computer vision and machine learning to process images, locate animals, apply species labels, and even suggest matching individuals from within their database. Since launching, the platforms have served over 1,800 researchers, tracked more than 200,000 individual animals across the globe, and recorded over one million sightings.
“At Wild Me, it’s been our mission from day one to create and scale tools to empower conservationists and protect global biodiversity and wildlife, what started out as a project to monitor and track whale sharks turned into a global platform with a vast database covering many different terrestrial and marine species. We’re proud to have found a like-minded partner in Conservation X Labs and are pleased to join forces to carry forward our shared vision of preventing the sixth mass extinction.”
With the merger, CXL will integrate Wild Me’s technology into its product offerings, including Sentinel, an AI toolkit that makes conservation tools smarter. Sentinel upgrades monitoring tools like trail cameras. Integrating Wild Me’s AI for individual animal re-ID can provide Sentinel with the ability to notify conservation authorities not only that a jaguar was sighted by a device, but also which individual jaguar passed in front of the camera in near real-time.
Through this system, monitoring devices can be turned into active tools that directly address some of the underlying drivers of extinction including preventing the spread of invasive species and wildlife trafficking.
“Our future depends on the health of our climate and biodiversity and the organizations that will solve the mounting environmental problems now confronting humanity. Conservation X Labs and Wild Me do vital, cutting-edge work to secure the health of our planet. Combining the expertise of these two innovative organizations creates a powerful synergy for rapid progress.”
With the integration of Wild Me’s technologies, Sentinel will offer conservationists and researchers even more powerful AI for tracking species in the wild.
About Conservation X Labs (CXL)
Conservation X Labs creates solutions to prevent the sixth mass extinction by developing transformative technologies, harnessing innovation through competitions, and building a community of innovators across disciplines. With the belief that humans have the power to solve the problems they've created, CXL stands at the forefront of conservation technology. Learn more at www.conservationxlabs.org.
Media Contact
Lindsey Garrison, Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing
Conservation X Labs
press@conservationxlabs.org
