Tal Chhapar Sanctuary - Chhapar, India.
MELA: Mating Ecologoy of a Lek-breeding Antelope
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Focus
Project MELA focuses on the mate-choice behavior of Blackbucks in a lek. We employ AI to quantify the social and spatial interactions of the males and females recorded with a fleet of multi-UAVs from a unique perspective. We are exploring the lekking behavior from the perspective of collective behavior and decision making. A short overview of the project can be found here. The project is funded by Dept. of Ecology of Animal Societies at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and Center of the Advanced Studies of Collective Behavior (CASCB) at the University of Konstanz.
A MELA of science, art and community building
Our aim is to develop a long-term research program with focus on fundamental questions in Biology. At the same time, we are developing a cutting edge AI platform for tracking large animal herds at high resolution. Our scientific process is augmented with artistic collaborations and community building initiatives with a mindful thought of giving with equal focus on knowledge production and knowledge dissemination. This process is visually recorded as a small 20 minute documentary, do watch it to get a deeper insight into our process.
Team
The project is initiated by Dr. Hemal Naik, Dr. Vivek Hari Sridhar and Dr. Akanksha Rathore. We have worked with about 12 students as assistants in the project. Our team also relies on expertise and advise of the local forest department of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Finally, the local members of the community, especially the guides or support staff at the field site who share their observations and knowledge about the wild animals.