When animals go online

By Björn Carstens
The Internet of Things is revolutionizing the world – but what if not only machines but animals were linked to the world wide web as well? That’s the vision of ICARUS – a technology with which we humans can glean vital insights from nature’s swarm intelligence.
© Rebelz/iStock

In Erich Kästner’s famous novel “The Animals’ Conference” elephants, lions, and buffalos took control to rectify human failures. Today, more than 75 years later, there’s a real-world “animals’ conference” – based on science and underpinned by technology: the Internet of Animals – a global network helping researchers around the world understand animal movements, protect eco-systems, and predict natural disasters. In “tomorrow” the inventor of that network, Martin Wikelski, explains how he and his team observe animals from outer space, thereby jointly protecting life on Earth.

The expert
When animals go online© MPI-AB

Martin Wikelski is a German behavioral biologist and director at Max Planck Institute of Behavioral Biology in the Southern German town of Radolfzell on Lake Constance. He is regarded as one of the leading researchers of animal migration movements. Following his studies of biology in Germany and the United States, he was engaged in research at renowned institutions such as Princeton University. Wikelski has received numerous awards including the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-
Württemberg. His current book is titled “The Internet of Animals.” (ISBN: 9781771649599)

How does the technology behind ICARUS work?

© MPI-AB

Tiny sensors and electronic mini recording devices that weigh only a few grams and are attached to the animals form the basis of the network. The devices capture huge amounts of data: GPS positions, movements, temperatures, accelerations, environmental influences, etc. The information gathered is transmitted via the ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space) system. For that purpose, ICARUS uses terrestrial systems and, up until the war in Ukraine broke out, the International Space Station (ISS) as an amplifying relay station for monitoring even the remotest regions on Earth. Thanks to artificial intelligence and big-data analyses the research teams derive valuable predictions from the raw data. In 2025 the second ICARUS generation is starting with a new receiver system on small satellites (CubeSat) – independently from the ISS.

When animals go online© MPI-AB

“Animals are the best noses for changes in the world. Be it in serving nature or humans. The Romans, who used geese to warn them of attacks, already knew that.”

Martin Wikelski
TV documentary “The Secret Knowledge of Animals” (German)

What areas benefit from the Internet of Animals?

© SWR/MPIAB/Uschi Müller

Nature conservation

By tracking threatened species protected areas can be shaped more effectively and poaching prevented.

© MPI-AB

To protect threatened species, Martin Wikelski and his team together with South African rangers attach tiny solar-powered ear or horn tags to various animal species. Especially endangered are rhinos due to the myth that their horns help in case of potency disorders. “Animals can protect other animals anywhere by telling us through their behavior that danger is lurking. Animals are honest. When they run away, when they get upset, freeze, or go crazy – in various ways depending on the animal species – you know that something’s wrong in this area. When many or all animals panic along a poacher’s potential pathway it’s clear that it wasn’t a lion or leopard that has locally scared all other animals but that it’s a human intruder with malicious intentions. In that way giraffes, lions, gnus, and zebras help protect the rhino. The only other thing it takes is a non-corrupt game warden to raise the alarm,” says Wikelski.

When animals go online© MPI-AB

Climate research

Animal movements provide valuable data about environmental changes and help improve climate models.

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“Animals can act as environmental and climatic buoys for us,” says Martin Wikelski. The German Weather Service DWD, for instance, recently started retrieving data from storks equipped with transmitters that collect a GPS data point every second. “The DWD wants to know the temperature levels from Germany to Africa at various altitudes. In addition, the data from the storks provide information about thermal intensity. We can also measure air movements in various altitude structures and – via solar sensors – the degree of cloudiness. In the future, a dense measuring grid of finely calibrated sensors on animals could significantly improve weather forecasts worldwide,” Wikelski explains. “Sooty terns, for instance, report about the condition of the oceans and through their in-flight behavior indicate where the next El Niño will strike. The French Navy is particularly interested in that type of data. Via their motion patterns birds also indicate how groundwater levels change. In North-Eastern Pakistan, for example, there are several areas to which cranes migrating from Mongolia have recently begun giving a wide berth because the groundwater has disappeared there.”

Another example is sea elephants that have been engaged in oceanic climate research for more than two decades. “Their data collections are unique and irreplaceable. They measure water currents, temperatures, and salt content of the oceans with transmitters in areas where other technical measuring systems cannot be used,” says Wikelski.

Early warning systems for natural disasters

When animals can communicate with humans, they can join us in fighting global spreading

© SWR/Context-Film/Erik Schimschar

For more than ten years, the Max Planck scientists at the highly active Etna volcano in Sicily by means of tags have been observing a group of 15 goats that seem to have a sixth sense. “We saw that the goats – obviously nervous – were standing under tall trees – which was unusual for the season, and especially for the time of day. Four hours later, the volcano erupted. Of the last eight major eruptions we predicted seven at the institute. We were able to celebrate similar successes with transmitter-equipped cows, sheep, dogs, and chickens in predicting earthquakes in Abruzzo. However, we’re not allowed to issue official warnings. We can’t act in advance of the government authorities,” says Martin Wikelski.

Early detection of pandemics

When animals can communicate with humans, they can join us in fighting global spreading

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“Just three hours after having become infected with swine fever, wild pigs wiggle their ears slower than usual. That means via the ear wiggling we can introduce a sensory system for the spreading of the African swine fever. In addition, we can attach sensors to wild birds such as whooper swans or pelicans, which are extremely susceptible to certain types of bird flu, and observe their health condition. If a particularly large number of individual birds died simultaneously that would trigger a pandemic alert,” explains Martin Wikelski.  

When animals go online
Martin Wikelski
© MPI-AB

“There are numerous animal species that may be carrying potentially essential information for the survival of humanity in and with them. We’re now beginning to understand the sixth sense of animals. We have around 30,000 to 35,000 tags, in other words real wearables for animals, out in the wild that transmit their data to our community database day in day out.”

  • A bird is fitted with one of the new satellite transmitters weighing only five g ...
    A bird is fitted with one of the new satellite transmitters weighing only five grams (0.17 ounces). © SWR/Christian Ziegler
  • The movement data of animals being partly observed from outer space with the hel ...
    The movement data of animals being partly observed from outer space with the help of satellites are fed into a Movebank app. That exposes larger correlations. © SWR/Filmtank GmbH/Marco Erbrich
  • Can animals sense natural catastrophes before they happen? On the slopes of the ...
    Can animals sense natural catastrophes before they happen? On the slopes of the volcano Etna some animals seem to flee hours before an eruption. Behavioral researcher Martin Wikelski compares their data with seismic signals that volcanologist Boris Behnke from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania analyzes. © SWR/Context-Film/Erik Schimschar
  • Tens of thousands of flying foxes gather at the Kasanka National Park in Zambia ...
    Tens of thousands of flying foxes gather at the Kasanka National Park in Zambia every year between October and December. Research teams using tiny high-tech transmitters are now investigating to where they migrate afterwards. © SWR/Context-Film/Harry Vlachos
  • An African death’s-head hawkmoth on a transmitting mission: from the city of Con ...
    An African death’s-head hawkmoth on a transmitting mission: from the city of Constance on Lake Constance this night moth flies without stopping across the Alps to Lago Maggiore, following a direct course throughout the night. © MPI-AB
The democratic vision of the ICARUS initiative

“The vision is easy to describe: summarizing the global information of the animals to learn and benefit from the collective knowledge of the animals. We want to democratize this information gain so that a farmer in Niger or a fisher on the Galápagos Islands can have the same information as a scientist in Europe. All people should have access to the wealth of animal information,” says Martin Wikelski, “then everyone can create their own warning or information systems via apps and algorithms.”  

The key aspect of the initiative is that most people have recognized that animals must be protected, even if in many cases just out of self-interest. Wikelski: “Animals are of vital importance to humanity. We share the world with them and when animals are no longer doing well, we should take notice. The fate of the animals will ultimately be our fate too.”