Muramatsu, Naoya; Shin, Sangyun; Deng, Qianyi; Markham, Andrew; Patel, Amir; (2025) WildPose: a long-range 3D wildlife motion capture system. Journal of Experimental Biology , 228 (5) , Article JEB249987. 10.1242/jeb.249987.

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Abstract

Understanding and monitoring wildlife behavior is crucial in ecology and biomechanics, yet challenging because of the limitations of current methods. To address this issue, we introduce WildPose, a novel long-range motion capture system specifically tailored for free-ranging wildlife observation. This system combines an electronically controllable zoom-lens camera with a LiDAR to capture both 2D videos and 3D point cloud data, thereby allowing researchers to observe high-fidelity animal morphometrics, behavior and interactions in a completely remote manner. Field trials conducted in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa) have successfully demonstrated WildPose's ability to quantify morphological features of different species, accurately track the 3D movements of a springbok herd over time, and observe the respiratory patterns of a distant lion. By facilitating non-intrusive, long-range 3D data collection, WildPose marks a significant complementary technique in ecological and biomechanical studies, offering new possibilities for conservation efforts and animal welfare, and enriching the prospects for interdisciplinary research.

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