The Turtle Shelter of the future....

In the fast-changing high-tech world where smart algorithms help us, but also influence and usually make our lives easier, animals are not forgotten either. Animals are getting an increasingly important voice, that they also matter, that they also have feeling and empathy.  

Housing and keeping animals from the human point of view, such as space-saving thinking and humanizing animals is increasingly recognized. When one keeps animals, one will always have to look from the point of view of the animal. What does the animal need to exhibit as much as possible of the species-specific behaviour? Stricter legislation gives inspectors (BoA’s) more opportunities to intervene in time when necessary. Although there are sometimes disappointing sounds to be heard about this new legislation, we just need it. In the end, it is handled per animal, with the necessary nuance. 

In anticipation of new legislation, simply because it has always been our intention, we are already working on the turtle shelter of the future in our dreams. Our goal is to create a turtle reserve in the Netherlands where turtles can live freely in semi-nature. Where they are fed and cared for and where they can go in or out whenever they want. We hope to achieve this in the future. For now, we take this into account in our current “business”. This is also done by using smart techniques. In the end, the animals must be kept under good watch, which we are already doing by using chip technology. All our turtles are chipped like a dog and cat. By means of these chips, the turtles are individually recognizable for our animal registration system. 

Soon we will try to use RFID gates and antennas to record the movements of our animals. In this way we get a good insight into the activity of each turtle. For example; If a turtle has not been at the feeding place for days, or has not shown up on an island for days, then we can receive a trigger. There might be something wrong with such a turtle.... But not every turtle reacts the same, based on all these recording moments we can record an algorithm for each turtle. Only when an animal deviates from its usual algorithm can we intervene earlier. A turtle slowly gets sick but also slowly gets better. The sooner we can intervene, the sooner the animal is back to health. 

For now we are already using smart techniques with more than 100 different sensors to monitor the animals. The extension to capture algorithms is the next step of automation. In the human world this technique would be a huge violation of privacy rights:) For our animals who have no problems with privacy it helps them enormously. The many animals that we get inside often have a weak health due to years of outdoor life (read: weakening) in nature. Or animals that have had very poor care. These animals need to be kept under special surveillance, however, with the ever-growing population it is also becoming more difficult to monitor each individual animal. By using algorithms in combination with the legally mandatory chip that they already carry anyway, there is a much better overview. This helps us in the care but especially the well-being of the turtles. Also in the future when there is a large reserve, we can apply this technique. By learning now and investing in knowledge and equipment, we can use this later. Because especially in a setting such as a reserve, this is indispensable to be able to keep a close eye on the animals. 

This year we will also take these steps, along with all the other steps we are going to take. Keep an eye on our social media and of course our website. We are going to have fun again this year!! Everything for the paths:) 

We thank everyone who supports us, not only financially but especially the empathetic gestures, reactions and contacts. With such people and organizations the world becomes a little bit better every day!!