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
Postdoc: Biologging & Camera Trap Data Integration
Lacey Hughey
The Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to help us integrate movement data & camera trap data with global conservation policy.
22 April 2024
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Starting a Conservation Technology Career with Vainess Laizer
Esther Githinji
Watch our interview with pioneering young Tanzanian vulture researcher Vainess Laizer! Her research investigating the breeding success of white-backed vultures in the western corridor of the Serengeti ecosystem using...
16 April 2024
Link
"We present the multivariate Hawkes process (MHP) and show how it can be used to analyze interactions between several species using camera trap data."
15 April 2024
Careers
Research Assistant, Lion Landscapes in Nanyuki
Esther Githinji
Are you passionate about wildlife conservation and eager to contribute to meaningful research efforts? Lion Landscapes is seeking a dedicated and proactive Research Assistant to join their team.
11 April 2024
Combining camera traps and online surveys provided a more comprehensive understanding of mammal communities in anthropogenic landscapes, increasing both spatial coverage and the number of species sightings.
9 April 2024
Link
These researchers used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
3 April 2024
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The Variety Hour: 2024 Lineup
Alex Rood
You’re invited to the WILDLABS Variety Hour, a monthly event that connects you to conservation tech's most exciting projects, research, and ideas. We can't wait to bring you a whole new season of speakers and...
22 March 2024
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The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SNZCBI) is seeking two postdoctoral fellows to engage more directly with identifying conservation metrics for vertebrate communities and populations.
14 March 2024
Link
Our new paper uses data from the citizen science project, Seabird Watch (hosted on the Zooniverse platform; seabirdwatch.org), to measure seabird phenology. Volunteers marked birds in time-lapse images to investigate...
13 March 2024
Link
EcoAssist has now incorporated the Deepfaune v1.1 species identification model for camera trap images, capable of recognizing 26 European species. The model is developed by Deepfaune initiative. More information is...
12 March 2024
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Catch up on the conservation tech discussions and events that happened during World Wildlife Day 2024!
7 March 2024
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EcoAssist introduces a free African species identification model for camera trap images, capable of recognising 30 species.
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanks Akiba! That's the conclusion I got to as well. Glad to have your vote too. Thanks! |
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Camera Traps | 2 months 3 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... |
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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 | 3 months 1 week 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 | 3 months ago | |
| Thanks! Yes, we added electronics to power an external UV light only during periods when the camera is set to take pictures. |
+23
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Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 3 months 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 | 3 months 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 | 3 months 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 | 3 months 2 weeks 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 | 3 months 2 weeks 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... |
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Software Development, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 3 months 2 weeks 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... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks so much!! |
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Camera Traps, Latin America Community | 3 months 2 weeks 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... |
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Camera Traps | 3 months 2 weeks ago |
