{"ID":5443797,"CreatedAt":"2026-07-01T02:07:11.383974684Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-07-03T14:41:59.01997188Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.31772","arxiv_id":"2606.31772","title":"Autonomous UAV Navigation for Individual Wildlife Re-Identification","abstract":"Reliable individual re-identification (re-ID) of wildlife is essential for population monitoring, behavioral tracking, and conservation policy evaluation, yet large-scale data collection remains labor-intensive, relying on manual efforts by ecologists or citizen scientists. We propose an autonomous drone navigation system that actively optimizes image capture for downstream re-ID, moving beyond passive aerial sensing. The system combines YOLOv11 object detection with a DINOv2-based pose classifier to guide real-time flight decisions: detecting animals, orienting to expose the lateral flank (the surface of interest for pattern-based re-ID), and approaching until the subject meets a minimum bounding-box threshold. Unlike prior drone systems that optimize for group-level behavioral video, ours targets the specific image-quality requirements of individual-identification models. We demonstrate feasibility through a case study on zebra using footage collected in Kenya, and show the approach generalizes to other species with diagnostic surface patterns, including giraffes, tigers, and elephants. Our work establishes a framework for task-aware embodied AI for ecological data collection, in which downstream re-ID requirements drive real-time perception and control.","short_abstract":"Reliable individual re-identification (re-ID) of wildlife is essential for population monitoring, behavioral tracking, and conservation policy evaluation, yet large-scale data collection remains labor-intensive, relying on manual efforts by ecologists or citizen scientists. We propose an autonomous drone navigation sys...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.31772","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.31772v1","authors":"[\"Claire Sun\",\"Tanya Berger-Wolf\",\"Jenna Kline\"]","published":"2026-06-30T14:56:04Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}