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
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @ImaniWilson
- | She / Her
Zoology with a placement year graduate from Bangor University. Interested in large African mammal movement and behaviour in response to climate change, particularly African elephants
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @Ferrugem
- | They/Them
Latin American environmental scientist.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Robotics and IoT Engineer living in Costa Rica since 2000
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Researcher interested in waterbird ecology and conservation
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
- 1 Resources
- 18 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Camera Trap Technologist at Large
- 1 Resources
- 36 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @HollyCormack
- | she/her
Biodiversity Knowledge Management Intern at the Biodiversity Consultancy Ltd
- 6 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @ryanhuang
- | He/Him/His
Conservation scientist based in Pretoria, South Africa
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @jsstamn
- | She/her
PhD student at the University of Mississippi; research interests include predator/prey dynamics, particularly the landscape of fear in relation to species conservation. Rookie at using arduino
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 5 Groups
An Environmental sciences and Management graduate from SUA, passionate and eager to drive change to the Environment, making World a better place for present and future generations.
- 4 Resources
- 35 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
Link
I put together some initial experiences deploying the new SpeciesNet classifier on 37,000 images from a Namibian camera trap dataset and hope that sharing initial impressions might be helpful to others.
23 April 2025
Link
A nice resource that addresses the data interoperability challenge from the GBIF.
4 April 2025
Article
Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map launched!
Carly Batist and 1 more
Conservation International is proud to announce the launch of the Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map, developed in partnership with the Nature Tech Collective!
1 April 2025
Article
The FLIR ONE thermal camera is a compact and portable thermal imaging device capable of detecting heat signatures in diverse environments. This report explores its application in locating wild animals across large areas...
27 March 2025
Funding
Arctic Community Wildlife Grants Program
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
WWF's Arctic Community Wildlife Grants program supports conservation, stewardship, and research initiatives that focus on coastal Arctic ecology, community sustainability, and priority Arctic wildlife, including polar...
7 March 2025
Careers
Wildlife Monitoring Internship 2025
Alex Rood
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SNZCBI) is seeking an intern to assist with multiple projects related to conservation technology for wildlife monitoring. SNZCBI scientists collect data...
3 March 2025
Article
NewtCAM observations
Xavier Mestdagh
NewtCAM is an underwater camera trap. Devices are getting deployed worldwide in the frame of the CAMPHIBIAN project and thanks to the support of our kind early users. Here an outcome from the UK.
24 February 2025
Funding
Osa Conservation is launching our inaugural cohort of the ‘Susan Wojcicki Research Fellowship’ for 2025, worth up to $15,000 per awardee (award value dependent on project length and number of awards given each year)....
10 February 2025
Link
Did someone read/know this book?
9 February 2025
Article
INSTANT DETECT 2.0 - ALPHA TESTING
Sam Seccombe
The worst thing a new conservation technology can do is become another maintenance burden on already stretched field teams. This meant Instant Detect 2.0 had to work perfectly from day 1. In this update, Sam Seccombe...
28 January 2025
Link
Collaring Elephants and Post Release Monitoring
Kasi Amor Kalande
This leads to an exciting blog we did recently, it also includes a spatial map indicating elephant movement tracks of an orphaned elephant who self released himself into the wild (Kafue National Park). Cartography was...
28 January 2025
Article
INSTANT DETECT 2.0 – THE OPTIMISATION YEARS
Sam Seccombe
The Zoological Society of London's Instant Detect 2.0 is the world's first affordable satellite connected camera trap system designed by conservationists, for conservationists. In this update, Sam Seccombe describes the...
21 January 2025
June 2025
July 2025
February 2023
event
Netty Cheruto
November 2022
October 2022
event
Len Thomas
September 2022
August 2022
July 2021
58 Products
Recently updated products
4 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanks Akiba! That's the conclusion I got to as well. Glad to have your vote too. Thanks! |
|
Camera Traps | 2 months 2 weeks 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... |
|
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 | 3 months 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... |
|
Camera Traps | 2 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Thanks! Yes, we added electronics to power an external UV light only during periods when the camera is set to take pictures. |
+23
|
Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 2 months 3 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.... |
|
Camera Traps | 2 months 3 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... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 2 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Short update: the latest version 13.0.9 of Firetail is now available from https://www.firetail.de |
|
Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Software Development | 3 months 1 week 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... |
|
Camera Traps | 3 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Lucie @luciegallegos ,Great to see ecoSecrets and happy to collaborate in any way I can! All EcoAssist's models are open-source, and the inference code too. With regards to... |
+10
|
Software Development, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 3 months 1 week ago | |
| Another question. Right now pretty much all camera traps trigger on either PIR sensors or small AI models. Small AI models would tend to have a limitation that they would... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 months 1 week ago | |
| Thanks so much!! |
+10
|
Camera Traps, Latin America Community | 3 months 1 week ago | |
| Some thoughts as I have experience working with some of the tech mentioned... Corrodible pin@htarold Did a great job explaining how that works. This pin is used in the pop-up... |
+10
|
Camera Traps | 3 months 1 week ago |
