Abstract A novel heuristic track initiation method is developed for the bearing-only multi-sensor–multi-target tracking system, in which each target is assumed to move with a straight line. The key idea of the proposed method is derived from the ant navigation concept in its foraging life, which differs from the traditional ant colony optimization algorithm, and it utilizes the concept of path integration and visual landmarks in ants’ navigation toolkit to find the exact positions of each target. Numerous numerical simulations are conducted and the effectiveness of the proposed track initiation method is verified according to the probability of correct track initiation.