AI camera logs 200 wildlife crossings on crash-prone Finnish road
Friday 9th October 2026 on 19:30 in
Finland
A thermal camera using artificial intelligence recorded more than 200 moose and deer crossings during a summer test on a collision-prone stretch of Highway 54, Yle reports. The monitoring is due to continue until the end of October.
Riihimaki-based company Datatrap installed the camera near the border between Riihimaki and Loppi. Over six years, more than 50 collisions involving moose or other deer have been recorded along a 300-metre stretch, and more than 260 across about two kilometres.
The system detects animals with a thermal camera and uses AI to identify them in the images. It sends the observations over a mobile network to the company’s server. The test area is in a part of southern Finland with a dense population of deer-family animals.
Datatrap chief executive Orhan Karamanoğlu said the animals were observed moving when the sun was between about seven degrees below the horizon and three degrees above it. He said activity may be better anticipated by the sun’s position than by clock time, which does not account for seasonal changes.
However, the finding is based on data from one stretch of road. It does not establish that the same pattern occurs elsewhere or that the system would reduce collisions.
The company is now exploring ways to use the observations to warn drivers, potentially through a phone app or roadside warning system. Another possible use would be temporary speed limits, such as reducing an 80-kilometre-per-hour limit to 60 during periods when animal movement is expected to be high. The effect of such measures on driver behaviour or collision numbers has not been demonstrated.
The Central Finland Vitality Centre, a regional government agency, approved the camera installation. Its traffic systems specialist Mikko Santala said the location was partly chosen using past collision data, and that the observations were not a surprise because animal movement often increases as the sun sets.
The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is reviewing how warning signs for moose should be used. The regional agency is also updating warning zones in Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Hame, with new signs planned for next year. Santala said the aim is to make warning zones shorter and focus them more closely on places where animals cross roads.