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
- @Tracks_Ecology
- | he/him
Ecological Consultant focussing on the use of UAV and GIS to advance applied ecological reasearch
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 5 Groups
My main interest is in the application of geospatial technology for ecology and conservation
- 0 Resources
- 12 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @emilydorne
- | she/her
DrivenData
Lead Data Scientist and developer of zamba, a tool for automatic species classification from camera traps
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 5 Groups
FruitPunch AI
CTO and Founder of FruitPunch AI
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 11 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 17 Groups
- @ptynecki
- | Piotr
Software Engineer with 10+ years of experience in application design, development, testing and deployment. Highly experienced in Health Care, Life Science and BigData projects. Artificial Intelligence researcher (NLP, Computer Vision) with experience in Wildlife Conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 6 Discussions
- 4 Groups
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife ecologist with a passtion for conseration technology.
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Science Researcher
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Saint Louis Zoo
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @diyaquanauts
- | he / him
Digital nomad, software developer, running mechatronic engineering firm in Seychelles to assist ocean conservation groups.
- 0 Resources
- 10 Discussions
- 9 Groups
ZSL Institute of Zoology (IoZ)
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
University of Adelaide
- 0 Resources
- 10 Discussions
- 17 Groups
Article
Black Rock Forest (BRF) are recruiting a seasonal Wildlife Connectivity Technician. Visit their website for further details and how to apply. Hurry, applications close soon!
3 November 2021
Article
Technical Difficulties: Understanding the Realities
Eric Becker and 1 more
In their three-part interview from our new series Technical Difficulties, Colby Loucks and Eric Becker share the failures they've encountered and learned from throughout six years of working on the WWF-US Wildlife Crime...
13 October 2021
Article
Technical Difficulties: A Deployment Checklist
Kristen Denninger Snyder
In Alina Peter's and Kristen Snyder's contribution to the Technical Difficulties Editorial Series, you'll receive a practical checklist of factors and questions to consider at various stages of your conservation...
13 October 2021
Article
Wildlife Insights Launches
Zoological Society London (ZSL)
Wildlife Insights is excited to announce the public release of their new platform! Read on to learn about all the useful features you'll find on Wildlife Insights, and check out WILDLABS' Tech Tutors episode with...
27 July 2021
Article
Tech4Wildlife Leaders: Understanding Endangered Primate Populations
Tasmin Alexander
Read our interview with Tasmin Alexander, early career conservationist and member of the CLP Future Conservationist Award-winning Preuss's Monkey Project research team. Working in the Obudu Plateau in Nigeria, this team...
2 June 2021
Article
Tech4Wildlife Leaders: Resolving Human-Giraffe Conflict
Owino Otieno Raymond
Read our interview with early career conservationist and CLP Future Conservationist Award recipient Owino Raymond, who is working with camera traps along the Kenya-Somalia border to understand and reduce conflict...
21 May 2021
Article
New Article: Environmental DNA Metabarcoding
WILDLABS Team
Check out the new research article "Environmental DNA metabarcoding as a useful tool for evaluating terrestrial mammal diversity in tropical forests." Recently published in Ecological Society of America's Ecological...
6 April 2021
Community Announcement
Whether you spent the last year working in the field, lab, at home, or virtually, the WILDLABS community's conservation tech achievements were on full display in our annual #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge! Relive our...
25 March 2021
Article
Kaggle Competition: iWildcam 2021 - FGVC8
WILDLABS Team
This year's iWildCam competition is now live on kaggle. Go beyond just classifying species or detecting animals - this year the challenge focuses on counting how many individuals of each species are seen in a burst of...
12 March 2021
Funding
Funding Opportunity: COVID-19 Science Fund
National Geographic
National Geographic is offering funding up to up to $50,000 for conservationists conducting research on how the pandemic has impacted wildlife and conservation work. If you are interested in researching aspects of the...
10 March 2021
Article
Resource: WildID
Alchemy Software
WildID is excited to share their new camera trap processing and detection tools with WILDLABS! Using machine learning to identify Southern African wildlife species in large quantities of camera trap data, WildID's tool...
8 March 2021
Article
Seeing #Tech4Wildlife With Unseen Empire
Ellie Warren
Based on one of the largest camera trap surveys ever attemped, Internet of Elephants' new mobile game Unseen Empire draws on the real field experiences and camera trap data sets of a single decade-long survey, giving...
8 March 2021
June 2025
July 2025
58 Products
Recently updated products
4 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi everyone,We all know camera traps are great at telling us what species showed up, where and when—and sometimes even ... |
|
Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 12 hours 2 minutes ago | |
| We have spent the past 9 months taking the lessons learnt from the AMI system to build an automated moth monitoring system... |
|
Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 1 day 8 hours ago | |
| Lively and informative discussion, I would very much like to contribute if there is some active development work with regards to this. I have recent experience with using... |
+31
|
Data management and processing tools, Camera Traps, Software Development | 5 days 23 hours ago | |
|
|
Latin America Community, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones, Early Career | 2 weeks 6 days ago | ||
| @LukeD, I am looping in @Kamalama997 from the TRAPPER team who is working on porting MegaDetector and other models to RPi with the AI HAT+. Kamil will have more specific questions. |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 3 weeks ago | |
| Hi Ștefan! In my current case, I am trying to detect and count Arctic fox pups. Unfortunately, Arctic fox does not seem to be included in the training data of SpeciesNet but... |
+16
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 3 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Interesting. Thanks for the explanation. Nice to hear your passion showing through. |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| Weeks with continuous inference would require a pretty big battery. I expect you would need some kind of customisation and maybe quite a bit of compromise to last weeks and on a... |
|
Camera Traps | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| 📸 Do you use camera traps in your work? Take part in our survey!Hi everyone! I’m currently a final-year engineering... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 weeks 4 days ago | |
| That's great! |
|
Camera Traps | 1 month ago | |
| True, the US ecosystem is a challenging space right now, for basically all sectors. We should not let the US chaos prevent us from engaging with opportunities in other... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Yes, I know about this big limitation,As far as I know they are working to increase the coverage available for this solution.For trusted developers, there are more regions... |
|
Connectivity, Camera Traps | 1 month 1 week ago |
