Keeping it Trunky: Engineering Improvements for Enabling Long Term Interactive Enrichment for Elephants

Electronic systems for cognitive enrichment in zoos open avenues for monitoring to better understand how and when the animals are engaged. We present a pilot study of an automated elephant trunk detection system utilizing computer vision techniques such as background subtraction and region-based motion detection on a Google Pixel smartphone for real-time monitoring of enrichment use by four African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at Zoo Atlanta. Preliminary results show promise in using camera-based methods for trunk detection; however, more testing and refining of the algorithm is required to obtain an accurate and reliable method that could replace physical sensing methods.