Why do wolves howl? Why does your dog bark? Why does any animal communicate, for that matter? And what is unique about human language? Those are questions behind a long-term research effort by Yellowstone's Wolf Project team known as The Cry Wolf Project. We have collected the largest database of wild wolf vocalizations in the world, having analyzed over 200,000 hours of recordings. Along the way we innovated a new class of trail camera called a multi-sensory recording unit (MRU) because, well, wild wolves are tough to study. Our technology, called GrizCam, enhances government efficiency, empowers wildlife law enforcement, fuels rewilding efforts, and even helps reduce conflicts between predators and livestock.
TED Talk by Jeffrey Reed
Wildlife is often monitored using trail cameras, but increasingly "sound" is proving to be a more effecient approach. Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) is a cost-effective, noninvasive method for surveying wolves, often outperforming camera traps in detection probability. Wolves are loud...think "car horn" loud...so they can be heard from miles away. While bioacoustic monitoring isn’t new, modern hardware as well AI advances in software have significantly reduced costs and boosted productivity in telemetry work. The Cry Wolf Project leverages technology from Google DeepMind, Microsoft AI, Colossal Biosciences, CU-Boulder and our own efforts. And we partner with some of the world's smartest scientists in Yellowstone (and outside). The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem offers an ideal setting for this work, thanks to decades of data from radio collaring, aerial surveys, camera traps, genetics and field observations of individual wolves and packs.
This is the howl of 907F—one-eyed, legendary, and among the longest-lived and most prolific wolves in Yellowstone’s history. She made this call alone, deep in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park at 5:49 PM on November 15, 2023.
Our moonshot is to decode wolf communication as fully as humanly possible, and perhaps find some of what we as modern humans have lost...a connection to the sounds of the natural world. In the process, we’re building something with the potential to transform global terrestrial conservation, all rooted in the incredible research happening right here in Yellowstone. Through our technology and research, we aim to:
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Advance Field Science: GrizCam gives biologists the ability to monitor elusive species, study behavior, and analyze ecosystems with unprecedented efficiency. Our AI-powered, solar-enabled cameras gather rich, real-time data in remote, extreme environments—at a fraction of traditional research costs.
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Incent Private Landowners: American Prairie Reserve and PERC have used camera traps to pay ranchers for the mere presence of wildlife on their habitat. The problem with the "Payment for Presence" model is that it doesn’t scale. It requires humans to process the images, count the species over time, and then pay the rancher. We are changing that with technology innovation.
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Combat Wildlife Crime: From poaching rings to drug and trafficking networks, illegal wildlife trade funds some of the world’s darkest economies. GrizCam helps enforcement teams detect and respond to threats faster—disrupting these operations at the source.
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Build the Digital Wild: We believe that conservation begins with connection. GrizCam creates immersive, real-time windows into the natural world, sparking curiosity, education, and advocacy for the next generation of ecologists, philanthropists, and changemakers.
Platinum Partners
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