Numbers game Can AI save the elephant?

There’s a strand of thinking, from sci-fifilms to Stephen Hawking, that suggests artificial intelligence could spell doom forhumans. But conservationists are increasingly using it to tackle the biodiversity crisis and climate change. They say it helps protect species and supports researchers and rangers in tasks from anti-poaching patrols to monitoring populations as diverse as koalas and pangolins. Here are five such projects:

1 Stopping poachers

Zambia’s Kafue national park is home to more than 6,600 African savanna elephants and covers 22,400 sq km, so stopping poaching is a big logistical challenge. Illegal fishing in Lake Itezhi-Tezhi on the park’s