In this video, Buiting shows a lion snoring with an Apple Watch strapped to its tongue.The video has already accumulated more than 5 million views, more than a lakh likes and hundreds of comments within a couple of weeks of it being shared on Instagram. Watch the video here:
Read what the vet said about using an Apple Watch to measure a lion’s heart rate
In the Instagram post, Buiting wrote: “I don’t know what’s more impressive… the snore, or the discovery that the @apple Watch can measure a lion’s heart rate if you strap it to the tongue (even if it is one of the less conventional “off-label” uses for the device. Either way, it’s a true ‘technology meets conservation’ story
This finding is particularly handy because one of the biggest challenges of working with animals in the field is the monitoring of anaesthesia without many of the regular bells and whistles you’d have in a hospital setting. In addition to this, many of the monitoring devices are often designed for smaller animals, making it extra challenging to get accurate readings from our bigger, spikey or scaled wildlife patients. So, when my colleague @fabiola_wildspirit and Dr Brendan Tindall found this trick recently, it was a game changer! It even works on elephants (when taped to their ears which is a sight in itself and is the ultimate “work smarter, not harder” in my book. It was a pleasure to be in the field with Dr Fabiola this month – the first of many times I hope.
I love the strides technology is making in conservation (intentional or otherwise – I have a feeling this use might not have been Apple’s plan for the device). Between “discoveries” like this, real-time GPS tracking collars for endangered species, “horn pods” for rhinos, and the Poaching Test developed by scientists at @tarongazoo, I am blown away by recent developments in this space. Drones, thermal cameras and AI have been joining the fight against poaching too – from @FLIR thermal cameras being able to detect and differentiate between animals and humans from over a mile away, to the AI that is training to detect the presence of a poacher by the physical response of the animal being tracked. It’s nothing short of incredible to see all the advances that have been made – all of which are just little reminders of the incredible potential technology holds, and all of the hope that remains for some of our most critically endangered animals.”