Koala Snap - Harnessing AI and Citizen Science to Protect Koalas

RAYMOND ISLAND, Australia - March 26, 2025 - PRLog -- Koala Snap is a revolutionary AI-powered conservation tool that uses koala nose patterns to identify individuals and track and protect koalas.

Dr. Sai Ravela, from MIT in Boston USA, has led this cutting-edge project in collaboration with scientists from IPN in Mexico and the Koala Island Foundation on Raymond Island Australia.

In his only Australian presentation, Dr Ravela will demonstrate how computer vision and machine learning are being used to analyse photos of Raymond Island koalas, enabling the identification of individual animals and the tracking of their behaviours and movements.          https://cse.mit.edu/people/sai-ravela/

This pioneering work promises to facilitate unprecedented insights into koala populations, behaviours and habitats, marking a major leap forward in both research and conservation opportunities.

Although developed for the Raymond Island koala colony in the first instance, the program will be made available more widely across Australia.

David Peile from the Koala Island Foundation has collaborated on this project with the MIT- led team for 3 years.

David  says: - "Koala Snap is a real a breakthrough. If you can get a good photo of a koala's nose, SNAP will return ranked identity matches within minutes.  No need for invasive ear tagging or microchipping and handling to allow identification. A big win for koalas, biologists and researchers. "

This event will be a rare opportunity to be part of a groundbreaking scientific initiative that offers a transformative approach to koala research!

Presentation : Wednesday April 2, 2 pm - 4 pm

Eagle Point Foreshore Hub, 12 Eagle Bay Dr, Eagle Point, East Gippsland  3878