Radar technologies powered by AI are helping detect polar bears and alert local communities to avoid any unwanted interactions, The Weather Channel reported. Climate change threatens the bears’ natural habitat on the Arctic sea ice, forcing them to spend more time on land and around humans. Developed by nonprofit Polar Bears International and radar firm Spotter Global, the “bear-dar,” as they call it, can detect the animals’ movements using AI. It recognizes the bears better than traditional radar, which struggles to pick up clean signals of the predators because of their thick fur.
Tested for years in a Canadian town and zoo, the system is now fully operational for the first time at a Canadian research base studying atmospheric science and Arctic life, just 700 miles from the North Pole. When community members receive alerts that a bear is nearby, they use noisemakers to deter the bear, keeping both them and the wildlife safe.