New in 3D Laser Scanning Services: Oregon Zoo Polar Bears Help With Laser Research
“It is vital that the bears in our care assist scientists”
Last month, researchers at the zoo’s menagerie saw Nora and Amelia Gray, two polar bears, in a new light: a laser beam, a 3D scanning service. Researchers from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service tested their newest 3D scanning technology on the zoo’s polar bears in the Polar Passage setting. If practical, 3D laser scanning services might give a non-invasive, risk-free method of tracking bears in the wild.
STUDYING Polar Bears With 3D Laser Scanning Services
“Right now, we tend to weigh bears while they are immobilized with a large metal rack,” said Lindsey Mangipane, a Thalarctos maritimus researcher with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. “We’re hoping that by using this technology, the United States will be able to analyze bear body size without having to capture them.”
Mangipane and her colleagues first noticed that the park service was photographing brown bears using 3D laser scan gear at Katmai park as part of Fat Bear Week. So they went to the Oregon Zoo’s Polar Passage setting to imagine if the same equipment might be utilized on wild polar bears. While Nora and Amelia Gray enjoyed some frosty treats, researchers directed their invisible 3D scanning at the bears from the highest point of Polar Passage.
According to Mangipane, having accurate information on the body mass and health of wild polar bears can help researchers address a variety of questions. For example, bears in good physical shape have better fitness levels and are likelier to give birth to cubs. In addition, as the Arctic ocean ice melts, this information becomes increasingly|progressively|more and more useful in the effort to rescue polar bears.
The Oregon Zoo’s polar bears have supported studies in the past. Nora had spent time in a swim flume designed to help scientists to explore the caloric needs of wild polar bears before moving to Portland, and Amelia Gray was one of a number of bears equipped with a “Burr on Fur,” a 3M image technical school innovation designed to help conservation scientists better monitor wild bears.
Are there gaps nevertheless to be understood?
“We still don’t know how climate change impacts polar bears,” Amy Cutting said. “It is vital that the bears in our care assist scientists in learning a great deal about their species,” the researcher explains. “Zoo bears are great candidates for help since they have already engaged with them and appear to like them through a form of health-care action.”
According to Cutting, the majority of today’s zoo-based polar bear science stems from animal-care discoveries at the Oregon Zoo. According to Cutting, the action had a substantial impact on animal welfare and veterinarian treatment, as well as brought up new opportunities.
According to Cutting, the move was significant in terms of improving animal welfare and veterinary care, as well as opening the door to new possibilities.
Many of the habitat’s alternatives were made possible by the Oregon Zoo Foundation, which funds the zoo’s animal care, conservation, and education programs.
Keep a watch on this platform for many exciting developments in 3D laser scanning services.