imageomics/thewilds_drones

Dataset Card for The Wilds Drones

This dataset contains drone mission data collected at The Wilds safari park in Ohio during Summer 2025. Manual drone flights captured video footage of specific sites at The Wilds to support ecological monitoring, animal behavior analysis, and object detection modeling.

Dataset Details

This dataset was created to support multimodal wildlife monitoring research. Bioacoustic data were collected using Wildlife Acoustics Song Meter Mini recorders deployed across multiple field sites. Files are organized by device and deployment window.

Supported Tasks and Leaderboards

[No benchmarks currently available]

Dataset Structure

Data Instances

Each .MP4 file is a field recording in format. File names follow a consistent timestamped naming scheme. Metadata are stored alongside each recorder folder in Markdown format.

Data Fields

metadata.txt Each drone flight folder contains a .json file with the mission telemetry data, a .jpg with an image of the flight path, and a mission_notes.txt file with the following fields:

• Flight objectives: The primary goal of the mission
• Drone: Drone model name
• Date/Time: The date and approximate time of the mission
• Observations: Notable events or sights captured
• Lead pilot: The primary pilot controlling the drone
• Co-pilot: Any other pilots assisting with the mission --> **

This dataset has no training/validation/test splits. Data are organized by date and mission number. Users may define their own splits depending on modeling goals.

Dataset Creation

Curation Rationale

This dataset supports biodiversity monitoring, behavioral ecology research, and the development of species detection and classification models from drone mission flight videos.

Source Data

Data Collection and Processing

Missions were conducted at The Wilds safari park using Parrot ANAFI drones. Flight telemetry data and appropriate metadata were uploaded along with the video footage. No filtering, video processing, or annotation was applied.

Who are the source data producers?

The dataset was collected and curated by researchers and students from the Imageomics Institute and Ohio State University in collaboration with conservation staff at The Wilds.

Annotations

Annotation process

No annotations are currently provided. Manual and AI-assisted labeling efforts are planned for future versions.

Who are the annotators?

N/A

Personal and Sensitive Information

The dataset includes GPS coordinates within a public conservation park. Endangered or sensitive species may be present, but the data do not identify them specifically. Spatial redaction has not been applied.

Considerations for Using the Data

Because missions were conducted in a non-random but systematic way, sampling bias may exist.

Bias, Risks, and Limitations

• Species present at The Wilds are non-random and include both native and exotic species.
• Missions were planned to compliment sensor placement, which followed a non-random, purposive design based on site features such as structural suitability for mounting and the anticipated likelihood of detecting ecologically relevant activity.
• Missions were conducted in fair weather and only during a short summer window and may not capture full seasonal variation.

Recommendations

Use with ecological and methodological context in mind. Future data from different seasons or years may complement these recordings.

Licensing Information

This dataset is dedicated to the public domain under a CC0 license. Users are encouraged to cite the dataset and acknowledge contributors.

Citation

BibTeX: bibtex @misc{thewilds_drones_2025, author = {Tanishka Wani, Vedant Patil, Rugved Katole, Bharath Pillai, Anirudh Potlapally, Ally Bonney, and Jenna Kline}, title = {The Wilds Drones}, year = {2025}, url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/thewilds_drones}, publisher = {Hugging Face} }