Biopar

Biopar, LLC is a bioengineering company focused on bringing cutting-edge digital technology to natural resource management. Our primary product is The Natural Tag TM, or TNT. TNT addresses three primary areas of natural resource management associated with population science: 1) Invasive or mutilation tagging, 2) labor, and 3) large-scale geographic... (eco-system-wide studies) and trans-specific (multi-taxonomic) management. With TNT, we like to frame those considerations in terms of Better, Cheaper, and Faster. Better: We have developed digital image processing and statistical pattern recognition methods that allow repeated, unambiguous identification of individual animals. This means that, except in the rarest of cases, there is no longer a need for invasive or mutilation tagging methods. This eliminates any scientific concern regarding the effects of the tag on the subject animal's behavior and any legal or regulatory issues regarding humane or ethical treatment of research animals. A natural tag - one that is part of the animal - cannot be lost. With some species, traditional tagging methods are problematic. Amphibians, for example, (a) when toe-clipped often regenerate the toe; or, with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags (b) are easily infected by, or (c) may expel them. Not having to deal with tag loss can substantially simplify the math associated with population estimates, while at the same time increasing the statistical power of the estimate. The only limit on the tag numbers available is the number of animals in the population. There is no requirement to register your code, as with thermal marking in fish. It's not necessary to coordinate codes as with coded wire tags. There is no need for a series or "reservation" for a unique series of tag numbers. Morphometric data can be extracted automatically from image data. Length, gender and condition algorithms have been established for the test species we have examined. Geographic (GPS) data is easily added to the individual's record. Whatever ...Read More