Alessandro Palla, Mattia Iannella, Andrea Marotta, Serena Frau

The challenge of human-bear coexistence in the Central Apennines is intensified by the fragmentation caused by human infrastructures. Indeed, road ecology is fundamental to disentangle the issue of wildlife road mortality and human needs, especially within the unique morphology of the Central Apennines territories. The rugged, steep terrains occurring there often channel wildlife into natural bottlenecks sometimes occupied by tunnels and viaducts. These structures may thus inadvertently function as wildlife unique-choice corridors, making the expansion of monitoring efforts beyond roads critical, highlighting the need to include specific railway safety measures.
Concurrently, the management of "problematic" or confident bears venturing into inhabited centers presents a distinct conflict. These incursions, driven by habituation to anthropogenic food sources, require immediate, non-invasive intervention to ensure the safety of both the community and the animals.
To address these crucial conservation challenges, we present the Wild Animals Detection and Alert System (WADAS). WADAS utilizes Edge AI to offer a solution characterized by high reliability, low cost, and territorial capillarity. Unlike passive monitoring, this system is designed for ease of deployment across vast, rugged landscapes. It provides real-time feedback via instant notifications and triggers specialized actuators, which are context-aware and programmable for specific environments.
We demonstrate the system’s versatility through two primary use cases: an acoustic-visual deterrent (currently in field testing) designed to mitigate habituation in confident bears by associating settlements with negative stimuli, and a road deterrent system (work in progress) aimed at actively preventing collisions. By integrating these tools, WADAS offers a scalable, technological bridge to support sustainable coexistence.