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: ACEAA-Conservacion Amazonica
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Camera trap wildlife surveys can generate vast amounts of imagery. A key problem in the wildlife ecology field is that vast amounts of time is spent reviewing this imagery to identify the species detected. Valuable...
20 December 2021
This study breaks ground in outlining a methodology for a system of low-cost, long-term camera traps (Dispersed Environment Acquatic Cameras) that can be deployed over large spatial scales in remote marine environments...
30 November 2021
In Ellie Warren's interview with Sara Beery as part of the Technical Difficulties Editorial Series, they discussed how the hype surrounding machine learning impacts our perceptions of failure, and how conservationists...
23 November 2021
CAIMAN is a product from the Sensing Clues Foundation that automatically classifies animals on images from camera traps. It aims to be available by the end of 2021, contact the Sensing Clues team for more details. This...
18 November 2021
In her case study from our Technical Difficulties Editorial Series, Juliana Masseloux discusses her challenges in working with camera traps to study elusive and rare animals like the pangolin, and shares her best advice...
11 November 2021
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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@pvlun , I have a few more questions for you, but I will follow up via email to save this thread. :) |
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Camera Traps | 4 hours 8 minutes ago | |
Hello,I am working on a project to monitor passerines on a remote uninhabited island using camera traps. The cameras would be visited once... |
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Camera Traps | 1 day 8 hours ago | |
Hi AlexThank you so much for the imput 🙏 |
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Camera Traps | 6 days 12 hours ago | |
Depending on how much drift there is it may be a fixed offset caused by the timer not restarting until you have finished puttin gin al the settings. You set the time, then do all... |
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Camera Traps | 1 week 4 days ago | |
Thank you for elaborating, @evebohnett ! And for the heads ups! |
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Camera Traps, Drones | 1 month ago | |
[oops, the same reply got submitted twice and there doesn't seem to be a "delete" button] |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Hi @zhongqimiao ,Might you have faced such an issue while using mega detectorThe conflict is caused by:pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.13 depends on torch==1.10.1pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.12... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Thanks, and that's a match! All these pictures are from a lab experiment and formated with AmphIdent. We took weekly belly pictures of several larvae. The aim of this google... |
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Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Hi, this is pretty interesting to me. I plan to fly a drone over wild areas and look for invasive species incursions. So feral hogs are especially bad, but in the Everglades there... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Hi everyone!@LashaO and @holmbergius from the Wild Me team at ConservationX Labs gave a superb talk at last month's Variety Hour,... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
Can't beat Dan's list! I would just add that if you're interested in broader protected area management, platforms like EarthRanger and SMART are amazing, and can integrate... |
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Data management and processing tools, Camera Traps, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
EcoAssist is an application designed to streamline the work of ecologists dealing with camera trap images. It’s an AI platform that... |
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Software and Mobile Apps, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 2 months 1 week ago |
Protocols for IDing big batches of camera trap data
5 March 2020 10:38am
28 March 2020 6:22pm
Hi Michelle,
I had a group of undergrads help me with a 40,000-image dataset a few years back. We used the TEAM network Wild.ID program, so each photo that was tagged indicated who tagged it. That was helpful for checking quality later on. For our common, unmistakeable species (e.g. whitetail deer), I didn't require a second identification, but for more challenging groups (foxes, mustelids), I would often have a second person review the ID, or do it myself. Later on, I had a student go through all the tagged images of a particular species (gray squirrel, etc.) and verify the first ID. I found that some of the undergrads were very reliable in their ability to ID the species, whereas some other students needed to have their work checked more meticulously. I later thought of the idea of building a training set of say, 100 photos, to have each student run through to get a sense for their familiarity with the species, but also their ability to handle the more tricky scenarios that come up often in camtrap datasets.
Most folks could only handle 1-1.5 hours of continuous tagging. I had a few enthusiasts who would go for 2 hours straight, but that was rare. We logged effort in a shared google spreadsheet, where the students noted the dataset they worked on, any issues that came up, and any individual images that needed a second check.
I also tried to set up a more ergonomic workstation for folks (multiple monitors raised up, ergonomic mouse, etc.). Since the motion is so repetetive, easy for folks to develop carpal tunnel syndrome.
If you are dealing with a much larger dataset, you might want to look into more sophisticated AI/automation methods, but for a smaller project, this was doable. If you have a university connection, you can often recruit folks through chapter groups of The Wildlife Society. Student are often eager to gain experience, although many don't stick with it once they find out how unglamorous it is!
Good luck!
-Andy
29 March 2020 5:33am
Hi Tim,
Your diagramme shows a USB connection between the camera and the RPi. What kind of camera is it? Also, does this mean the RPi lives with the camera in the field?
Very interesting work.
Thanks,
-harold
Webinar: Citizen Science Online
26 March 2020 12:00am
Enter the Zooniverse: Try Citizen Science for Yourself!
18 March 2020 12:00am
Testing an Early Warning System to Mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflict on the Bhutan-India Border
11 March 2020 12:00am
Announcing the iWildCam 2020 Camera Trap Kaggle Competition!
10 March 2020 7:08pm
3 Ways Your Conservation Technology Could Become a Shiny Pile of Junk, and How to Avoid It
9 March 2020 12:00am
Project Advice: Average speed camera system
7 March 2020 6:26pm
#Tech4Wildlife 2020 Photo Challenge In Review
4 March 2020 12:00am
Call for Nominations: Tusk Conservation Awards
3 March 2020 12:00am
Hawai'i Conservation Conference
28 February 2020 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge Update: Thermal Elephant Alert System
17 February 2020 12:00am
Average speed system needed
15 December 2019 9:27am
20 December 2019 1:11pm
Dear Sam,
PS. As a starter we could easily have rumble strips put in to slow traffic down at teh beginning and teh end so that the vehicles would not be flying past your detector.
I do understand this challenge as when collecting data over 700 metre stretches using a stopwatch we tried to catch numberplates with a standard motion camera and unless the vehicles were slow we never got the number plate.
20 December 2019 1:15pm
PPS 4 - 800 should have been 4-8000 THOUSAND
20 December 2019 1:16pm
Hi Gregory,
That is quite shocking to hear that a road could be so detrimental to wildlife. If you were able to place a speed hump or rumble strip where you place the camera you could even embed the metal detecting sensor in them to ensure accurate detection of every vehicle when they are going slower.
Our camera takes a burst of images and this can be set to be quite a quick burst or a slower burst so with a little bit of testing I am sure we could get the numberplates.
I am assuming that a lot of time these collisions happen at night. Would there be a way to have a fixed light at the camera locations as otherwise the cameras can be blinded by headlights and taillights making reading the VRN difficult.
At the moment our system is satellite connected. This does have a relatively high monthly data cost. We are also planning to develop a cellular version but this will require more funding and development time that we have not got yet.
The system is in the final stages of development and we plan to launch it in mid-2020 once it has undergone some prolonged field trials at ZSL sites, so it is not currently available. Final costings are still under review and will be released early next year.
I am sorry that we are not able to provide this capability to you right now.
Have you found any commercially available camera systems? In the UK I believe the automatic number plate recognition cameras placed on gantrys over motorways are called SPECS and a quick google said they are sold by a company called Jenoptik. If you find out how much they are and how they work, perhaps you could update this thread?
Thanks,
Sam
A New Cloud Platform Unveils the Most Diverse Camera Trap Database in the World
17 December 2019 12:00am
Camera trap ML competition
20 November 2019 12:32am
Advice Needed: Daytime IR Flash?
17 November 2019 7:06pm
Counting night time visitors on a budget
16 November 2019 4:40pm
Camera Trap Symposium - Go-Long Board
8 November 2019 12:10am
Virtual Meetup Discussion: Camera Trapping
25 October 2019 4:39pm
6 November 2019 9:38am
Thanks Sam, presumably you have lots more power than would be available from the battery in a tracking collar.
Peter
6 November 2019 9:54am
The Base Station where the data is sent using LoRa to be backhauled by satellite will definitely require larger batteries than a tracking tag!
However, we have tried to ensure that despite this the Base Station can be carried on foot by a small team to wherever it needs to be deployed. To do this we have designed a battery pack based on a small lead acid car battery, and no single item should weigh more than 6Kg so the weight can be distributed.
Our cameras and sensor endpoints contain internal rechargeable lithium ion batteries which are also bigger than a tag could have.
However, for a tracking tag it could still use a small battery as LoRa radios are very low power and the tag would only send the data to the Base Station when it is within range. This could be done by either the tag having a geo-fence feature - so it would know when it is close to a Base Station to try and send data - or the tag could try and communicate with a Base Station at set times of the day - at times when the Base Station can also be programmed to be awake. If the tag received nothing back after trying to connect it wouldn't try to send the data until another period of time.
For video transmission, LoRa is not a suitable protocol and you need to start looking at Microwave and TV Whitespace!
6 November 2019 10:05am
Thanks Sam
I am looking at LoRa for high resolution GPS tracking, and the project also involves camera trapping at scent marking sites. Power is already limiting collar lifetime (most of it goes to the GPS rather than the LoRa module), but transmitting real time pictures from marking sites while the marking is going on would be neat.
Camera Trapping: Incredibly Useful Resources List
5 November 2019 12:00am
Plant-Powered Camera Trap Breakthrough
15 October 2019 12:00am
Panatraps: 360 camera traps
8 October 2019 11:28am
Camera Traps and DMR Radio via IP?
26 September 2019 5:33pm
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Camera Trapping
26 September 2019 12:00am
Residents of the Forest: Camera Trap Educational series shows the diversity of Amazon dwellers
25 September 2018 2:52pm
17 May 2019 4:16pm
Check it out our new episode of the "Residents of the Forest" Camera Trap series about two Amazon ground-birds: White-Winged Trumpeter and the Spix’s Guan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZevHJTZRDKE
Hi all I am sharing the latest episode of WWF-Brazil web series "Residents of the Forest". The previously unseen images, obtained exclusively by WWF-Brasil, were captured by camera traps installed in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in the Brazilian State of Acre. Our seventh episode, focus on the White-Winged Trumpeter and the Spix’s Guan . The web series “Residents of the Forest” started last year, among the animals featured on the videos already released are the Pacarana, the tapir, some canids and anteaters from the Amazon.
The work with camera traps is a partnership between WWF-Brasil and other institutions, such as the Community Forest Producers Cooperative (Cooperfloresta), ICMBIO and the Residents and Producers Association of the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in Xapuri (Amoprex). Its aim is to monitor the conditions of the existing biodiversity in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in community forestry managed areas.
Check previous videos on your playlist: https://lnkd.in/eHhgDqA
12 July 2019 4:51pm
"Residents of the Forest" Series: New episode brings images of the giant armadillo, the largest and rarest armadillo of the world The Amazon’s armadillos are the protagonists of the eighth episode of the series "Residents of the Forest". The new set of unpublished and exclusive images captured at the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in the state of Acre (AC), shows different species of armadillos and brings various curiosities about one of the most distinctive animals of the Amazonian biome. Among the animals depicted in the film are the Southern naked-tailed armadillo (Cabassous unicinctus), the Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctuo), the Greater long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus kappleri), and the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). They are shown digging, feeding, and even bathing! The images come from photographic traps installed inside the Resex.
Read the full story at:
https://www.wwf.org.br/informacoes/english/?72004/Residents-of-the-Forest-Series-New-episode-brings-images-of-the-giant-armadillo-the-largest-and-rarest-armadillo-in-the-world
Check the video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6iKlFJYal4
20 September 2019 4:52pm
Jaguar, cougar, jaguarundis and ocelot: In its last episode, the series “Residents of the Forest” brings images of the Amazon Felids
In its ninth and final episode, the web series “Residents of the Forest”, produced by WWF-Brasil since last year, brings another set of unpublished and exclusive camera-trap images. This time, the stars are the cats of the Amazon. Among the animals depicted in the video are jaguarundis (also known as the "gato-mourisco" or "moorish" cat in Portuguese), ocelots, cougars (also known as pumas), and jaguars.
Recorded during the last few months at the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve (Resex) in the state of Acre, Brazil, the images were captured through tree-mounted camera traps that have motion sensors and record anything that moves. By doing so, these cameras could record scenes of animals in their natural environments during the day and night.
Watch it and check the playlist with all nine episodes at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1aO8739Htk&list=PLFfXasjdYEpLghWXIahnFMlVfrRdPkyBe
Read the full story at:
https://www.wwf.org.br/?72523/Jaguar-cougar-and-ocelot-In-its-last-episode-the-series-Residents-of-the-Forest-brings-images-of-the-large-Amazon-felids
[ARCHIVED] Camera trap Tech Symposium Nov 7/8th 2019
20 September 2019 7:32am
African leopard research - best camera trap?
3 September 2019 11:29am
19 September 2019 7:16am
Hi Louisa
I have exactly the same questions!
Over the last few years there has been a proliferation of cheap camera traps flooding the market (Apeman, Distianert, Crenova...the list is long). I wouldn't normally recommend budget cameras like these (<$100) for research (quality control issues...), but keen to hear from others if they've worked OK for you.
When I posted a similar question on Twitter, I had a few responses, which might be of interest (one vote for Apeman for arboreal trapping, various votes for Bushnell, which are a bit more expensive).
I think these are all infrared though, not white flash.
If you do take the plunge on some of these cameras, we'd all be interested to hear how you get on!
Thanks
Ollie
Solutions to Camera Trap Theft?
29 October 2017 9:32pm
24 August 2019 4:29pm
A few years ago this solution would have been thought of as nuts.
Have another cheap camera pointing at the expensive camera.
How it would work is like this.
The expensive camera or its housing detects it is being tampered with (tilt detector attached to a microcontroller). The microcontroller is also attached to a small short range radio (NRF24L01). This thing will be asleep all the time and use almost no power, until it is tilted. BOM (bill of materials) less than $10.
The cheap camera is so small it can mostly be buried underground. That is also controlled from a microcontroller, and that too has a small radio. However this radio needs to be listening all the time - BOM will go up with a bigger battery. I've had luck with these cheap 'key fob' 808 cameras, they record video onto their own sd card. BOM probably about $30-40.
Now this wont stop someone stealing the cams, but might lead to an arrest. The argument about sticking a GPS in the housing is not convincing for me, a GPS is a very specific type of pcb usually featuring an easily identifyable antenna - so can just be ripped out. If it were me it would be the first thing I'd look for.
I've used cheap chinese arduino pro-minis and 808 style cams for a while, and while its nice to stick PIRs etc on them to detect intruders etc, the result is usually an empty battery and an sd card full of spider or ant head shots.
If you wanted to scare the wrong-doers off at the moment of theft, then it would be possible to play an audio warning, or shout 'you are now being filmed' or replay the crackle of a walkie-talkie (search : arduino mp3 player). The expensive camera's transmitting radio signal could be picked up by more than one device you see? The noise could be coming from the left, the cam in the ground could be on the right. These simple radios can have a range of 50+ metres, if you pick the right ones. There are other RF options, as well as GSM dialers of course.
If all this sounds a bit complex, with some work and thought these counter measures could be set and forget "black box devices".
12 September 2019 5:08pm
Hi Paul,
Just curious about how you go about interfacing to 808 cameras: part of the problem is you don't always know which exact model you're getting (or at least I don't), how do you work around this?
Some time back I "discovered" the SQ11/SQ12 cameras and bought a couple. Have you had any experience with them? I don't think they're any easier to interface to, but theoretically they should all be identical. A plus is you can get a waterproof housing for them.
Thanks,
-harold
12 September 2019 6:03pm
For the 808s I normally go through links on the chucklohr website, the absolute oracle on 808s. My last purchase were Mate 808 1080P "spy" cameras, with a long camera cable, they do away with the whole plastic housing and just give you the board with components. I ordered from their website in '17, but it seems they are all over the place on ebay ATM.
I tried the SQ11s, but they run awful hot - but for say, 2 minutes of video they work just fine - but minute, I had one working in a hat - thats how I know how hot they can get.
As for "Interface with the 808" I take this to mean 2 things :
a) how do you intercept the video signal to, say, send something to an email address
- you don't, well at least I couldn't, you have to physically go and get the sd card out
b) how do you turn it on an off?
- I unashamedly used this idea from Gordon Williams of Espruino fame :
https://www.espruino.com/Time+Lapse+Camera
You'll notice the clever hack to fire up the cam using 2 i/o pins simultaneously.
Now the cam I mentioned above, like them all, has a config text file, so here you set the image size, whether it starts filming when turned on - with some other basic settings such as date/time etc.
There are lots of gotchas with this, not least of which is when reset that that text file is overwritten with some (sane) defaults, which may not be the default you want.
I found the Mate 808 config did most things, all I had to do was turn the cam on and off - and I got this working with an Arduino pro mini 3.3v.
So the "smarts" can be on an Arduino, read sensors, if/else, film for 30 seconds, 60 seconds, dont film and so on - send an alert etc.
I toyed with the idea of "potting" the cam and Arduino in resin to suit the environment, but as I said, the greater part of it could be buried - just means breaking out the microphone, to say, the same length as the extended camera cable.
The drawback with PIRs I found was all the false positives, had better luck with these small microwave "radar sensors" - Andreas did a fine recap on what was available about 2 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WiJJgIi3W0
Instant Detect 2.0 emerges
3 September 2019 12:00am
16 November 2023 1:11am
Camera Trap Technology Symposium (Recordings): Bringing Developers and Users Together
2 September 2019 12:00am
Automated Identification of Indonesian Rhinos
27 July 2019 12:00am
19 March 2020 10:01am
Hi Morgan and Tim,
Thank you so much for these resources, I will go through these and get back to you with any questions.
Best,
Michelle