The first-ever home-made bionic Tibetan antelope robot Photo: Wechat account of the DEEP Robotics

In Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve in Northwest China's Qinghai province, a bionic Tibetan antelope robot, with built-in 5G ultra-low latency networks and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, was diligently working to conduct "unintrusive" real-time observations of the population of Tibetan antelopes, marking a significant step forward in wildlife research and conservation.

This marks the first robotic Tibetan antelope to be deployed in the heart of Hoh Xil, at an altitude of above 4,600 meters, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

The domestically developed robot has successfully blended into the herds, overcoming the limitations of human observation with more precise and reliable footage and data to better protect the wildlife, stated the Xinhua report.

The bionic robot, developed by the Xinhua News Agency in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hangzhou-based robotics firm DEEP Robotics, closely resembles the real Tibetan antelope in appearance.

Judging only from its fur color and appearance, this bionic Tibetan antelope is not much different from a real one. While it may not move as gracefully or swiftly as its natural counterparts, it has successfully integrated into the herds, providing researchers with unprecedented access to detailed and reliable data, per Xinhua.

Located on the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Hoh Xil is known as a "no man's land" due to its harsh environment, with an average altitude of over 4,600 meters. Despite the extreme conditions, it is also a biodiversity hotspot, often referred to as the "Kingdom of Animals." The Tibetan antelope, a flagship species of the plateau, is a crucial indicator of the ecological health of the region.

The mobile devices deployed to monitor the antelope migration are part of Chinese tech companies' efforts to expand the areas of embodied AI technology application.

The robot has overcome the limitations of traditional human observation methods. It can operate at a distance of up to two kilometers in open terrain, navigating through rugged slopes, muddy wetlands and other challenging environments, Meng Yuan, a DEEP Robotics representative, told the Global Times on Monday.

Using video recordings from the mobile devices, researchers analyze the scale and speed of each antelope herd to determine the correlation between the two, providing data support for rapid traffic light response. When the platform detects antelopes approaching the road, it sends an early warning to staff at a nearby protection station, alerting them to direct traffic accordingly, Meng noted.

The deployment of the bionic Tibetan antelope robot represents a major breakthrough in wildlife observation technology. It not only provides researchers with a powerful new tool, but also sets a precedent for future ecological studies in remote and challenging environments, said Meng.

The robot's AI vision recognition system can capture real-time data on the antelopes' migration patterns, feeding behaviors and the growth of their young. This data is then transmitted via 5G networks to a backend platform for instant analysis, generating detailed reports that offer valuable insights for scientific research and conservation efforts, said Lian Xinming, head of the project and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology.

Liang noted this "front-end unintrusive collection + back-end intelligent analysis" model not only overcomes the limitations of human interference in close-range wildlife observation, but also significantly multiplies the efficiency of ecological data acquisition.

In addition to the bionic robot, other technological projects such as "mobile sentinels" have also been deployed in Hoh Xil to monitor the migration of Tibetan antelopes, according to the Xinhua report. These devices are part of an intelligent management platform aimed at mitigating human-wildlife conflicts.

Qiupei Zhaxi, a Sanjiangyuan National Park's Hoh Xil administration official, emphasized that the integration of robots and AI into ecological protection efforts has made conservation work in Hoh Xil more efficient, environmentally friendly and humane.