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
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Careers
The Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies (WFE), SLU, Umeå, is looking for a postdoc with strong interests in wildlife conservation technology.
15 January 2025
Article
Announcement of Project SPARROW
Zhongqi Miao
SPARROW: Solar-Powered Acoustics and Remote Recording Observation Watch
18 December 2024
Careers
Postdoc on camera trapping, remote sensing, and AI for wildlife studies
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
The Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies (WFE), SLU, Umeå, is looking for a postdoc with strong interests in wildlife conservation technology. She/he will work within Big Picture, a European project...
18 December 2024
Careers
Postdoc on camera trapping, remote sensing, and AI for wildlife studies
Tim R. Hofmeester
Fully funded 2 year position within a Biodiversa+ funded project
16 December 2024
Link
AmazonTEC: 4D Technology for Biodiversity Monitoring in the Amazon (English)
Elsa Carla De Grandi
Interesting webinar on the use of advanced technologies(e.g. Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, drones, camera traps and satellites) for biodiversity monitoring in the Amazon. Also available in Spanish.
25 November 2024
Article
Apply Now: AI for Conservation Office Hours 2025
Jake Burton and 1 more
Are you stuck on an AI or ML challenge in your conservation work? Apply now for the chance to receive tailored expert advice from data scientists! The deadline for applications is Monday 9 December 2024.
13 November 2024
Article
📢Declas - New Open-Source Tool for Camera Trap Data🎉
Stanislas Mahussi Gandaho
Managing large volumes of camera trap data can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially when it comes to detecting and classifying wildlife. To tackle these challenges, Declas v1.0.0 has been released—an open-...
30 September 2024
Article
Join us in celebrating this year’s Community Choice Award winners!
15 August 2024
Article
Vote for your favorite submissions that best demonstrate conservation impact, novel innovation/discovery, and strong storytelling of the work and the sector.
12 August 2024
Link
AI Based Animal Detection Demo App for iPhone
Robert (Bob) Zak
In this post, I describe an animal recognition demonstration app I developed for the iPhone. The “MegaDetector-Demo” app uses the latest “MegaDetector” animal detector model from PyTorch-Wildlife to identify animals,...
11 August 2024
Link
Rapid Camera Trap labeling with ChatGPT
Sara Olsson
Hi all, I've published a blog post on rapidly labeling camera trap data using ChatGPT for species identification and a simple object detection model to get the bounding boxes. While presented in Edge Impulse, this...
17 July 2024
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actually, you can source the product from anywhere, but I’m not very confident in the quality of products from China. That doesn’t mean products from China are bad—it might just... |
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Camera Traps | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| great, this security cameras might be interesting for monitoring crop development and maybe other bigger pests like boars or some other herbivorous animals that could eventually... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| Seems like we should include some rotations in our image augmentations as the real world can be seen a bit tilted - as this cropped corner view from our fisheye at the zoo shows. |
+13
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks! The Teensys are nice for processing power if choosing an external Lora board I’d say that’s a good choice. I started with teensies, there was a well supported code base... |
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Camera Traps, Sensors | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hi Raza,As @ollie_wearn suggests, if think traptagger will be the easiest for you: You just have to follow the tutorial there:The person in charge of Traptagger is also very... |
+3
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Camera Traps | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hello Wildlabs community! My name is Shawn Johnson and I am a research assistant for Dr. Karen Mager and Dr. Bernie Boscoe here at Southern... |
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Camera Traps | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Zhongqi! We are finalizing our modelling work over the next couple of weeks and can make our work availabile for your team. Our objective is to create small (<500k... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Software Development | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| There's quite a few diy or prototype solutions described online and in literature - but it seems none of these have made it to market yet as generally available fully usable... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Sensors | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| I think the big thing is power consumption. Commercial camera traps have a large power (current) dynamic range. That means they can often swing from ~0.1 mA to ~1000 mA of current... |
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Camera Traps | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| As others have said, pretty much all image models at least start with general-subject datasets ("car," "bird," "person", etc.) and have to be refined to work with more precision... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
| This is a thread for anyone who has questions about AI for Conservation Office Hours 2025.We're once again teaming up with Dan Morris from... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Community Base, Geospatial | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi Eugene!Interesting project!I already signed up to test it!Cheers,Lars |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 6 months 3 weeks ago |
