Camera traps have been a key part of the conservation toolkit for decades. Remotely triggered video or still cameras allow researchers and managers to monitor cryptic species, survey populations, and support enforcement responses by documenting illegal activities. Increasingly, machine learning is being implemented to automate the processing of data generated by camera traps.
A recent study published showed that, despite being well-established and widely used tools in conservation, progress in the development of camera traps has plateaued since the emergence of the modern model in the mid-2000s, leaving users struggling with many of the same issues they faced a decade ago. That manufacturer ratings have not improved over time, despite technological advancements, demonstrates the need for a new generation of innovative conservation camera traps. Join this group and explore existing efforts, established needs, and what next-generation camera traps might look like - including the integration of AI for data processing through initiatives like Wildlife Insights and Wild Me.
Group Highlights:
Our past Tech Tutors seasons featured multiple episodes for experienced and new camera trappers. How Do I Repair My Camera Traps? featured WILDLABS members Laure Joanny, Alistair Stewart, and Rob Appleby and featured many troubleshooting and DIY resources for common issues.
For camera trap users looking to incorporate machine learning into the data analysis process, Sara Beery's How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? is an incredible resource discussing the user-friendly tool MegaDetector.
And for those who are new to camera trapping, Marcella Kelly's How do I choose the right camera trap(s) based on interests, goals, and species? will help you make important decisions based on factors like species, environment, power, durability, and more.
Finally, for an in-depth conversation on camera trap hardware and software, check out the Camera Traps Virtual Meetup featuring Sara Beery, Roland Kays, and Sam Seccombe.
And while you're here, be sure to stop by the camera trap community's collaborative troubleshooting data bank, where we're compiling common problems with the goal of creating a consistent place to exchange tips and tricks!
Header photo: Stephanie O'Donnell
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
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Article
Machine learning is widely recognized as the solution to camera trap data processing, but a user-friendly and broadly-accessible system for putting this tech to use has not yet been developed. In this case study,...
1 October 2018
Article
Motion-sensing wildlife-tracking cameras in South Sudan have captured 425,000 photos, documenting species not previously known to be found in this richly forested area. The team is now asking for your help to identify ...
22 August 2018
Article
In this case study, Sam Seccombe documents his efforts to track down an off-the-shelf remote camera setup with the capability to stream quality, reliable video from the field. As he explains, it was a slighlty more...
25 July 2018
Article
This latest chapter in the Conservation Technology Series from WWF-UK looks at the opportunities, challenges and state-of-the-art of satellite remote sensing for conservation applications. This issue reviews available...
23 April 2018
Funding
The Plant-Powered Camera Trap Challenge
Alasdair Davies
Are you an architect, engineer, designer or a scientist? Can you design and manufacture a prototype open source plant-BES (bio electrochemical system) to power a camera trap and environmental sensors in tropical forests...
3 April 2018
Article
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge 2018: Our Top 10
WILDLABS Team
Hundreds of people joined our #Tech4Wildlife photo challenge this year, showcasing all the incredible ways tech is being used to support wildlife conservation. We've seen proximity loggers on Tasmanian Devils in...
3 March 2018
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‘The Field’… Say the words ‘The Field’ to a group of conservationists and it will immediately conjure up vivid memories of everything from sticky wet rainforests to burning dusty deserts. What’s more, it’s almost...
17 January 2018
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FIT Cheetahs
Larissa Slaney
A new research project is looking to investigate whether technology combined with the ancient skills and knowledge of Namibian trackers can help save cheetahs from extinction. Called FIT Cheetahs, the research project...
4 December 2017
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HWC Tech Challenge Update: Meet the Judges
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Our panel of international experts has been hard at work reviewing the 47 proposals we recieved for innovative technological tools to address human wildlife conflict. The panelists have systematically been assessing the...
20 October 2017
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Download New Conservation Tech Guidelines: Camera Traps, Acoustics and LiDAR
Paul Glover-Kapfer
The inherent complexity of not only deploying technologies in the field but also doing so in a scientifically rigorous manner can prove a substantial barrier for the effective use of conservation technologies, and clear...
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Frustrated by the limitations of the tools that were available for managing large camera trap data sets, Heidi Hendry and Chris Mann set out to develop something that met their needs, and thus, Camelot was born. In...
7 July 2017
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| Hi all,I'm interested in this post for another context, tropical rainforest. I want to monitor forest cleareance in the Congo bassin rainforest through time-lapse images.... |
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Camera Traps | 4 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Yep see you on friday |
+3
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Geospatial, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools | 4 months 2 weeks ago | |
| The magic of the WILDLABS community! @Chelsea_Smith @dmorris @pvlun thanks for showing everyone how it's done :) Chelsea, would be great to hear how this works out for you... |
+10
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Camera Traps | 5 months ago | |
| I'm hoping someone can make some recommendations for a wildlife camera that can be set up on a small, man made island that will record... |
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Camera Traps | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| Thanks Akiba! That's the conclusion I got to as well. Glad to have your vote too. Thanks! |
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Camera Traps | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Dan, Not right now but I can envision many uses. A key problem in RS is data streams for validation and training of ML models, its really not yet a solved problem. Any... |
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Emerging Tech, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Geospatial, Sensors | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hello!I'm searching for a solution to tag EXIF metadata to images on an embedded device.I'm currently developing a camera trap that... |
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Camera Traps | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks! Yes, we added electronics to power an external UV light only during periods when the camera is set to take pictures. |
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Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| I don't know any, but we have the same program idea (basically democratizing resource on conservation tech) that focuses on Indonesia region. But we are progressing slow.... |
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Camera Traps | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hey Bob, thanks for the kind words! Your articles on Winterberry Wildlife have really been a big inspiration for me! There are extremely limited numbers of articles on trial... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Short update: the latest version 13.0.9 of Firetail is now available from https://www.firetail.de |
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Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Software Development | 6 months ago | |
| Thank you, Dan -- I should have known you would have something like this! The tesseract package in R was quite simple to tune for my case, so I'm going to run it in batch tomorrow... |
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Camera Traps | 6 months ago |
Resource: Wildlife Speed Cameras: Measuring animal travel speed and day range using camera traps
28 April 2016 2:39pm
7 August 2016 11:15pm
Hi Steph - just to follow up on your post: @MarcusRowcliffe , James Durrant and I have been working on a bit of software to implement the "computer vision" techniques that are mentioned in that paragraph. You can see a demonstration of it in action here. It requires camera-trappers to "calibrate" their camera traps during setup (or take-down), by taking pictures of a standard object (for example, we use a 1m pole held vertically) at different distances. The calibration takes ~10 mins per location. From this, you can reconstruct the paths that animals take infront of cameras, the total distance they travelled, and therefore their speed.
[ARCHIVED EVENT]: Approaches to Analysing Camera Trap Data
18 April 2016 3:45pm
5 August 2016 9:54pm
Hi Steph,
Only just discovered this site, so I'm a bit late to the game.
I'd love to hear what your main take-aways were from this meeting!
Best,
Louise
5 August 2016 10:35pm
Hi Louise,
Welcome! Unfortunately, an uncomfortably busy calendar meant I ended up missing this gathering. However, I'm sure that @SteffenOppel @Tomswinfield or @ali+johnston (I think you were all involved?) might be kind enough to jump in here and share some of their key take aways from this discussion?
Steph
How can technology help us monitor those small cold-blooded critters that live in caves?
25 July 2016 12:00am
Discussion: 360° Camera for Arboreal Camera Trapping
19 July 2016 2:38pm
Camera traps reveal mysteries of nature
18 July 2016 12:00am
Discussion: Self-powered camera trap
24 November 2015 7:36pm
1 December 2015 6:27pm
I was initially thinking of dozens or maybe even hundreds of nodes coming back to a central wired connection point. I wonder if something like Google's project Loon could work in place of an on-the-ground network.
But stepping back from the tech for a moment, really the problem we're trying to solve here is being able to have remote monitoring cameras that don't need anyone to go out to change batteries or memory cards. After salaries, vehicles/transportation is the top expense at pretty much all of the conservation partners we have. Anything we can do to reduce the travel (and the time of the people as well) is huge.
1 December 2015 6:37pm
So, in terms of power, does the "classic" solution with a set of solar panel cells on top of the box have some major flaws? I'm pretty sure I've seen self-powered meteo stations looking like this positioned along motorways/higways (don't remember what country or even a continent was it :-) Not being an expert in photo-voltaics, I would risk saying that a purposely-designed cell pointing up, directly at the sun, will have better efficiency than a re-purposed CMOS censor :-)
And indeed, talking to something overhead (either the baloons or Facebook's drones - forgot the name - or maybe even satellites?) would be probably much simpler than ground-based communication. If we had big enough energy budget, the communication channel would be "relatively easy" to implement...
4 July 2016 11:51am
Some camera trap manufacturers offer solar power as an add-on or option off the shelf. I agree that using the image seems like a solution looking for a problem.
The Highs and Lows of Camera Traps for Rapid Inventories in the Rainforest Canopy
4 July 2016 12:00am
Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge Accelerator Bootcamp
24 June 2016 12:00am
Project Feedback Wanted: Building Low Cost Cameras
2 March 2016 9:59am
11 May 2016 6:27pm
thanks for this very interesting post! i was also trying to develop an inexpensive camera trap but with not good results. i think the use of a PIR sensor can give more battery life than motion detection via software. Can you give more details about the components you used please?
Thanks
Paolo
20 May 2016 11:07pm
Hi Sorry been away, I'll list more about parts etc.. In the mean time the Pi Zero has just had an upgrade..
http://petapixel.com/2016/05/19/5-raspberry-pi-zero-now-camera-compatible/
TEAM Network and Wildlife Insights
28 April 2016 12:00am
Is Google’s Cloud Vision useful for identifying animals from camera-trap photos?
20 April 2016 12:00am
Disruptive Technology: Embracing the Transformative Impacts of Software on Society
10 March 2016 12:00am
[ARCHIVED]: Smithsonian Course: Camera Trapping Study Design and Data Analysis for Occupancy and Density Estimation
3 February 2016 2:25pm
Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge: Winners Announced!
22 January 2016 12:00am
The Social Lives of Conservation Technologies and Why They Matter
2 November 2015 12:00am
13 June 2016 4:59pm
Here's a set of tools that could be applicable to this idea
https://github.com/pfr/VideoSpeedTracker