Milestone ‘EggsProtect’ helps Dublin Zoo protect animals and their future families
The Challenge
A more comprehensive centralized video management system was needed to manage
a growing number of IP cameras that were being deployed to serve a range of needs at
Dublin Zoo, including perimeter security, animal welfare, and animal behavior studies.
Zoo keepers also had concerns about a few overnight incidents of overnight on Dublin
Zoo’s flamingos by wild animals. Ostrich egg numbers were down too. Keepers wanted
to explore the use of cameras to help study the behavior, and ensure the welfare, of all
animals under their protection.
“Milestone XProtect, together with Axis thermal and infrared cameras installed in our
African Savanna habitat, picked up incidents of ostrich eggs being taken by wild badgers.
The large eggs were being rolled under a gate, up a hill and then smashed on a rock,
whereupon a badger set was getting a tasty meal at our ostriches’ expense. We were
able to lay humane traps to catch these badgers and then resettle them in the park land
beyond the outer perimeter of the zoo.” – Gerry Creighton, Operations Manager, Animal
& Grounds, Dublin Zoo, Ireland.
The Solution
New Axis thermal and infrared (IR) cameras were integrated with Milestone XProtect Cor
-porate video management software, providing live and recorded video to be viewed on
17 different PC viewing stations around the zoo via XProtect Smart Client. A total of 140
new Axis network cameras were installed by Milestone Expert Certified partner Kelcom.
The Result
The system provided clear evidence of the taking of ostrich eggs by wild badgers. It also
discovered unwelcome late night visits by wild otters who harmed a small number of
flamingos. Zoo keepers were able to study recordings of these visits and use this intel
-ligence to correctly position humane traps to catch and relocate the perpetrators well
away from the zoo. As a result, ostrich egg incidents stopped and the flamingo popula
-tion began to grow once again. The new IP video management system has also proved
vital in studying animal behaviors, including group dynamics and sleeping habits.
‘EggsProtect’
XProtect Corporate video software was used to capture the moments when ostrich eggs
were being taken and eaten by wild badgers, and when otters found their way into the
flamingo pool at night. The badgers were sneaking in via a specific fence, and making
their way across the multi-species habitat called the African Savanna, under the cover of
darkness while the zebra herd was acting as security guards. But the clever badgers were
managing to outwit the zebras and take the eggs be fore making their exit under that
same fence, pushing them up a hill, and letting them roll down to smash on a large rock.
Dinner was served.
Animal Behavior Studies
Dublin Zoo uses the latest technology with video cameras to observe the habits of
animals, often providing video recordings and sharing live views with animal experts
around the world. So much so that Dublin Zoo’s Operations Manager, Gerry Creighton,
regularly runs online training sessions supported by the provision of live video from
specific cameras during animal training sessions, births, veterinary procedures, feeding
times, and other key events.
Brendan Walsh, Senior Zookeeper at Dublin Zoo, recently completed a three-year study
of the zoo’s eight elephants to better understand their sleep patterns and night-time
behaviors. Brendan’s findings have provided new knowledge in this area:
“Through intensive study of images gathered on the Milestone XProtect video system
from infra red cameras installed in the bull and cow elephant houses, we learned a great
deal about the varied sleeping patterns of elephants at different ages. Elephants sleep
on average about four hours per night. They get this sleep in chunks, which tend to get
longer as they get older.”
“For example, a young elephant will wake up more than 20 times per night, but older
ones may only rise four times between the hours of 12AM and 7AM. That said, the oldest
cow of the group – the matriarch – will sleep very little when elephant calves are around,
as she sees it as her job to alert them to any impending danger.”
Dublin Zoo also has several cameras deployed in the elephant training area, where ani
-mals are taught to do a variety of activities, from presenting their feet for a routine ped
-icure or making it easier for keepers to perform routine medical inspections. Recordings
from this training area are sent to Alan Roocroft, a world-renowned expert in elephant
behavior based in San Diego, California.
Alan reviews these recordings each week and talks to Dublin Zoo about any issues via
Skype, all without the expense of flying him over to gain these insights. Veterinary con
-sultants can also be sent these recordings if keepers have health concerns for the animals
they are looking after.
Irish national television channel RTÉ has a TV series called ‘The Zoo’ which has been run
-ning for the last six years. The Zoo’s production team sometimes uses video recordings
from the cameras for the show, airing elephant, big cat and gorilla births in recent years.
Combining this with the use of five network cameras displaying live views of a range of
animals on the zoo’s website has helped Dublin Zoo build its visitor numbers substantial
-ly, so that it now has more than 1.1 million visitors annually.
Milestone Mobile for Access on the Go
The zoo’s operations manager and 12 of the 44 keepers employed at the zoo are able to
access images around the clock via Milestone Mobile, in case they need to check on the
animals that are under their charge overnight.
Milestone Open Platform Advantages
Milestone XProtect’s open platform architecture allows operators to choose from the
widest range of network cameras and select the best ones for any given task. Milestone’s
open Application Programming Interface (API) makes it easy to integrate XProtect with
other edge devices or third party software systems for security, such as access control
and building management. Milestone’s open model also enables partners to easily
customize the look and feel of XProtect Smart Client to better meet the needs of the
customer.
Gerry Creighton, Operations Manager, Dublin Zoo, sums up: “Anyone serious about ani
–
mal welfare in zoos must have a decent network video system today. By having cameras
you can see the whole range of animal behaviors on their own terms. By viewing them
undetected, you see their natural behaviors – their sleeping, eating, befriending and
mating patterns, as well as group dynamics and hierarchies. “From a security point of
view, it helps us keep out intruders that might harm animals under our protection. It has
also enabled the zoo’s security team to tighten perimeter security and stop unauthorized
feeding of animals by visitors.”
Future developments with Milestone Eco Partners
New Video Content Analysis software will be trialled shortly at Dublin Zoo. Milestone
Expert Certified Partner Kelcom will conduct video analytics testing in order to help the
zoo conduct deeper-level analysis of the video captured. Kelcom will integrate Milestone
eco partner Agent Vi’s Savvi Business Intelligence tools with Milestone XProtect, to help
enhance the learning and behavioral studies being carried out at Dublin Zoo.
Declan Kelly, Chief Executive of Kelcom Networking, said: “Working with Milestone, and
its eco partners Axis and Agent Vi, is helping us develop a world-class enterprise-level IP
CCTV infrastructure for Dublin Zoo.”