New tech can identify wolves by their howls

Scientists have developed a new technique which allows individual wild wolves to be recognised by just their howls with 100 per cent accuracy.
Researchers from Nottingham Trent University in UK, have developed a computer programme to analyse the vocal signatures of eastern grey wolves.
"Wolves howl a lot in the wild. Now we can be sure exactly which wolf it is that's howling," said PhD student Holly Root-Gutteridge, who led the research.
Wolves use their distinctive calls to protect territory from rivals and to call to other pack members.
"They enjoy it as a group activity. When you get a chorus howl going they all join in," said Root-Gutteridge.

The team's computer programme is unique analyses both volume (or amplitude) and pitch (or frequency) of wolf howls, whereas previously scientists had only examined the animals' pitch, BBC Nature reported.

The scientists put their new tool to the test by studying dozens of archive recordings of wild eastern grey wolf howls, living mainly in Algonquin park, Canada, and collected by the British Library in London.
Their success rate was 100 per cent when recognising individual wolves from their solo howls. And they achieved an accuracy of 97 per cent when identifying wolves calling together in a "chorus howl".
Similar technology has been tested on captive wolf howls but this study is the first time such accurate results have been achieved from recordings taken from the wild.

Previously, an accuracy rate of 76 per cent had been achieved by scientists using audio sampling to identify wild wolves.
Root-Gutteridge speculated that her team's new vocal "extraction code" could be used in acoustic studies for "[other] wolves; coyotes; dogs. Anything that howls really".