THE PROBLEM
Most wildlife counts can't be checked
Traditional aerial counts rely on observers spotting animals in seconds from a moving aircraft. Animals are missed, results vary from count to count, and nothing remains to audit afterwards.
When quotas, funding and management decisions rest on those numbers, that is a risk to wildlife and to your reputation.
OUR APPROACH
Every count backed by an image
Verifiable
Every animal counted can be traced back to a photograph, audited, and re-analysed years later.
Safer and less invasive
We fly at about 300 m above ground, far higher than the roughly 90 m used for observer counts. That means less disturbance to wildlife and less risk to crews.
More than a count
The same imagery can map human activity, water distribution and habitat condition.
Our survey camera pod on the aircraft's wing strut, south-eastern Zimbabwe, 2026
Brandon Giddey, ecologist and founder, in the field
WHY HABITAT HORIZONS
Ecologists first. Technology second.
We're qualified conservationists and ecologists with years of field experience. The technology serves the ecology, not the other way round. We present your data the way a reserve manager needs it.
Field-based expertise
Ecologists who know ecosystems from the ground, not just from the air.
Best practice at heart
Robust, transparent survey design and analysis.
Answers, not just numbers
Reports interpret what the counts mean for water, fire, vegetation and predator management.
Richer, deeper data
Every image is archived, so you can go back to your data for deeper analysis, now or years later.
HOW IT WORKS
From flight plan to management decision
01
Survey design
We agree your goals, species and area, then plan flight lines and coverage.
02
Data capture
Survey-grade cameras fly systematic lines, timed for the best light and visibility. Every image is tagged with its position and height.
03
Data processing
Coverage is checked and overlapping images matched, so no animal is counted twice.
04
Analysis
Our trained annotators find and label every animal, supported by detection algorithms where suitable. Ecologists then verify the annotations.
05
Review and reporting
A clear report and maps, and a walkthrough of what the results mean for your property.
People and algorithms, working together
PEOPLE
A trained annotation team
People find and label the animals, including full manual counts. We can train your team too.
ALGORITHMS
Proprietary and open-source
Detection models speed up the search where they suit the survey, never replacing human review.
QUALITY CONTROL
Verified by ecologists
Every annotation is checked by ecologists before a number reaches your report.
PLATFORM
Our own annotation platform
Built for aerial wildlife imagery, so every detection is reviewed, labelled and stored in one place.
WHAT OUR TEAM SEES
Animals detected, labelled and verified
SERVICES
Photographic aerial wildlife surveys
Accurate, auditable wildlife counts and distribution maps for population monitoring, offtake and translocation planning, and donor reporting.
Survey data storage and access
Airborne LiDAR and remote sensing
GIS mapping and spatial analysis
Image annotation and team training
Forest inventories
Ecological monitoring programmes
Specialist aviation for wildlife management
WHO’S BEHIND THE DATA
Led by ecologists, backed by specialists
Bayleigh Miles
Ecologist and Marketing Manager. Master’s in conservation; ecology and invasive alien plants.
OUR TEAM
Brandon Giddey
Ecologist and Founder. Master’s in conservation; ecology, GIS and remote sensing.
TECHNICAL ADVISORS AND PARTNERS
Decades of combined experience in aerial wildlife surveys, photogrammetry and remote sensing across Africa.
Howard Frederick · Robert Hugh Wooding · Tom Lautenbach · Amy Laura Hoad
