New technologies offer nature more accurate health checks

Scientists from monitoring company NatureMetrics collect water to then capture traces of DNA to identify local wildlife species, in The Trossachs National Park, Scotland. — NatureMetrics/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation

MONTREAL: In the rivers of the Peruvian Amazon, manatees wallow in the murky water, making them very hard to spot. If you’re lucky, says British ecologist Kat Bruce, you might see their nostrils poking out above the surface.

A few years ago, she joined conservationists from green group WWF who were travelling a 1,000-km (621-mile) stretch of river to study manatees and other species.