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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Machine Learning Researcher & Nature Photographer. Building conservation tech for biodiversity monitoring at Wildlife Insights.
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
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Wildlife ecologist with a passtion for conseration technology.
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As an agronomist engineer, I specialized in environmental management and resource conservation. 🌍 Interested in developing solutions for biodiversity conservation #indicators #monitoring
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29 January 2021
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19 January 2021
WILDLABS member Meredith Palmer shared this great course module based around Snapshot Serengeti camera trap data, and developed for university biology courses. This material is ideal for introductory level biology...
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Today, WWF conservation engineering intern Ashley Rosen shares insight into the process of redesigning a camera mount for FLIR thermal cameras used by rangers in the fight against poaching. Ashley's design will become a...
24 August 2020
Our first season of Tech Tutors may have wrapped, but the connections and collaborations from these episodes are still going strong! Today, we're sharing Tech Tutor presenter Laure Joanny's recap of the most important...
20 August 2020
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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If you're planning a camera trap survey, then look no further. We've read through most (all?!) of the camera trap literature, so... |
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Camera Traps | 6 years 7 months ago | |
Hi John, They will want a camera with good tolerance to humidity + precipitation (so a camera with a proper O-ring seal, and pack it with regularly-dried silica gel).... |
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Camera Traps | 6 years 7 months ago | |
Hi all, If you haven't please take this survey on camera traps led by @P.Glover.Kapfer . I'm posting it here to... |
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Camera Traps | 6 years 8 months ago | |
@@Chloe+Aust - pls google “ltl acorn uk”, you will get a lot info. No, no limited, just the company's sale rules. You could use it anywhere, but... |
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Camera Traps | 6 years 10 months ago | |
Fair point, it isn't a peer reviewed article as yet. I had a poke around out of curiosity and wasn't able to track down a fully published paper yet (thought it's been... |
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Camera Traps | 6 years 11 months ago | |
black thinking hat ! Interesting and honest. |
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Camera Traps | 7 years ago | |
Steph, Not quite. I'm coordinating a fauna monitoring project for a Landcare network and, of course, we hope to get phascogales. I've just retrieved a batch of cameras... |
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Camera Traps | 7 years 2 months ago | |
A number of good points have been made. In terms of remote-enable camera traps, you will mainly find one that use cellular data signals to transmit images. Typically these are... |
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Camera Traps | 7 years 2 months ago | |
Thanks, i send the it to my chinese friends, i am sure some of them finished the survey. cheers Kai |
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Camera Traps | 7 years 3 months ago | |
The facts are simple. If you violate the assumption of independence of sampling events you will bias the result. In the event of multiple observations by overestimating occupancy... |
+1
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Camera Traps | 7 years 4 months ago | |
What species monitoring protcols do you know of that explicitly focus on one species? -John |
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Camera Traps | 7 years 4 months ago | |
Hi Heidi, You might also consider becoming involved in the eMammal project (emammal.si.edu) that the Smithsonian has recently developed. It has tools for both uploading... |
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Camera Traps | 7 years 5 months ago |
Correspondence among multiple methods provides confidence when measuring marine protected area effects for species and assemblages
20 October 2023 12:28pm
When considering MPA groundfish monitoring methods: the more, the merrier! New paper out in Journal of Applied Ecology compared three MPA monitoring techniques commonly utilised to survey groundfish populations. They found that using multiple methods was the best approach.
Catch up with The Variety Hour: October 2023
19 October 2023 11:59am
GEO BON Monitoring Biodiversity for Action
5 October 2023 3:10pm
Good Thermal/ Night Vision Cameras?
1 September 2023 7:15pm
22 September 2023 11:13am
I'm jupping into the discussion, with a similar objective. I'm looking for a thermal camera trap, (I know cacophony). it would be use to improve invasive speices monitoring especially for rats and feral cats.
Any idea?
Thanks
22 September 2023 12:56pm
Hi @mguins , as @kimhendrikse mentioned resolution (and also brand) for thermal cameras can dictate a big jump in price. GroupGets has a budget Lepton (FS - short for 'factory second' I think) if you wanted to check one out:
They also have a bunch of other Flir products and boards for interfacing with Leptons etc., so worth a browse of the shop. It could also be worth taking a look at Seek modules, some of which @Alasdair has experience with : (e.g.
They also have modules you can connect to a mobile phone:
@TopBloke I'd be very keen to see your Lepton camera trap too!
Cheers,
Rob
Turn old smartphone into IA camera trap?
24 September 2021 1:08pm
11 July 2023 10:56am
Any news regarding this topic ?
14 July 2023 4:05pm
Despite the power challenges noted in this thread, I think the “used” stream of smart phones is a viable platform for trail cameras. Having successfully hacked in custom features into closed source trail camera firmware (https://github.com/robertzak133/unified-btc-reverse) , I am also hoping that software development on smart phones is a better way to do feature innovation on trail cameras.
I have just “started” on a trail cam app for iPhone 12 pro (not that “old” yet, but it will be by the time I’m done, and it’s the first iPhone with LIDAR). I have done some toy apps on the iPhone before, but am mostly blissfully unaware of how much work this will be :) None-the-less, goal is to have a prototype working in the back yard by July 15, 2024. I’ll post a project link on this thread as soon as it’s up.
I’m just working on requirements now. My primary focus is on improving image quality, and capture efficiency vs. existing trail cameras for wildlife photography. For example:
- Using camera image quality library to improve low light captures, exposure, etc.
- Improving trigger versatility and accuracy using LIDAR sensor
- Tracking auto-focus based on LIDAR
- Negative trigger delay for daylight shots
- Support for custom lighting via “ensemble” sets
It seems wrong not to leverage cellular connectivity, though this is a lower priority for me because most of our sets are beyond cell phone coverage.
I did find an interesting app – “Motion Detector Camera” by Phil Bailey https://apps.apple.com/us/app/motion-detector-cam/id461753935 this app uses some parameterizable motion detection algorithm to trigger still images (free version). It’s pretty slick. I’m starting w/ LIDAR because I want to have a trigger that works in the dark.
Note that none of these require any AI processing of the images, though I have no doubt a smart phone would be a great place to do that one way or another. Do you have specific usage models/requirements in mind for in-phone image processing/classification?
22 September 2023 11:30am
Keep us in touch looks promissing!
Q&A: UK NERC £3.6m AI (image) for Biodiversity Funding Call - ask your questions here
13 September 2023 4:10pm
21 September 2023 4:27pm
This is super cool! Me and @Hubertszcz and @briannajohns and several others are all working towards some big biodiversity monitoring projects for a large conservation project here in panama. The conservation project is happening already, but hubert starts on the ground work in January and im working on a V3 of our open source automated insect monitoring box to have ready for him by then.
I guess my main question would be if this funding call is appropriate/interested for this type of project? and what types of assistance are possible through this type of funding (researchers? design time? materials? laboratory field construction)
Camera Trap Data Management Survey: Results
20 September 2023 1:46am
Camera traps statistics
18 September 2023 10:22am
GBIF guide to managing and publishing camera trap data opens for community review
15 September 2023 2:23pm
A low-cost, long-running, open-source stereo camera for tracking aquatic species and their behaviours
5 September 2023 12:15pm
Have you ever wanted to continuously film underwater species and their behaviours for up to 2 days at a low cost?
Well now you can with this new open-source design guide published in
@MethodsEcolEvol!
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X…
Camera traps reveal wildlifes' responses to megafires in Western U.S.
24 August 2023 10:47pm
An interesting new paper from a camera trap surveying species' responses and resilience to megafires in the western United States. A great example of how conservation tech can help us understand regional climate change impacts.
Online training workshop: camera trap distance sampling, 23-27 October 2023
21 August 2023 2:24am
Bushnell cameras with date-time issues.
29 July 2023 1:06am
11 August 2023 12:40pm
I think this is a known problem with some Bushnell models. The battery connection only needs to be interrupted for an instant (by being moved for example) and the camera resets. If a coin battery, are they still charged?
11 August 2023 1:19pm
I am having similar problems with a campark camera. It's more than 4 years old, so it could be the button cell. I am also suspecting that humidity plays a role : the re-set happened a couple of times after long rain periods ( half a day or so ). Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps some corrosion is going on.
11 August 2023 2:45pm
Thanks folks. Will go check and let you know what I learn.
Mike
Live Streaming from a Remote Location (no cell tower access)
15 July 2023 1:18am
29 July 2023 1:29am
"The WiFi Solar Camera comes loaded with various features such as live monitoring ( via smartphone app ), motion sensor recording and notification alerts on detected movement, night vision, cloud storage of footage, an audio system to facilitate communication"
WiFi Solar Camera | Wireless CCTV Home Security Systems
If you use the wifi solar camera with Cctv home security systems and that you have wifi then this is the cheapest option to use. Buy now
Simply Online Australia29 July 2023 8:43am
Hi Colin, Many thanks for your replies. Yes, Starlink provides full internet access. Our current Wifi Nest camera contains a web server & provides a html code to embed the live stream into a web page for public access. Most security cameras, due to privacy reasons, do not stream to a web page without requiring a username & password. Not a viable solution for public viewing.
We are looking for a camera with PTZ functionality that can stream to a web page without requiring a username & password.
Cheers, Graeme
11 August 2023 12:27pm
Graeme, Maybe speak to a web IT expert. You may be able to have an interface on the webpage which provides the login credentials to the camera, but then passes the image (and control) to another page. Make a "masking" page that keeps the camera happy, but access and control is via another page.
Conservation Technology Specialist
11 August 2023 1:21am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Judges' Panel Honorees
4 August 2023 10:00am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Community Choice Honorees
3 August 2023 10:00am
360 Camera for Marine Monitoring
25 July 2023 8:54am
28 July 2023 7:43pm
Hi Sol,
For my research on fish, I had to put together a low-cost camera that could record video for several weeks. Here is the design I came up with
FishCam: A low-cost open source autonomous camera for aquatic research
We describe the “FishCam”, a low-cost (<500 USD) autonomous camera package to record videos and images underwater. The system is composed of easily ac…
At the time of the paper, I was able to record video for ~12 hours a day at 10 fps and for up to 14 days. With new SD cards now, it is pushed to 21 days. It costs about 600 USD if you build it yourself. If you don't want to make it yourself, there is a company selling it now, but it is much more expensive. The FOV is 110 degrees, so not the 360 that you need, but I think there are ways to make it work (e.g. with the servo motor).
Happy to chat if you decide to go this route and/or want to brainstorm ideas.
Cheers,
Xavier
3 August 2023 2:32am
Hi Xavier, this is fantastic! Thanks for sharing, the time frame is really impressive and really in line with what we're looking for. I'll send you a message.
Cheers,
Sol
3 August 2023 3:19am
I agree, this would be great for canopy work!
Workshop on the use of information and communications technology for conservation in Central Asia
1 August 2023 11:50pm
Live Streaming Camera
31 July 2023 11:36am
Seeking your support for stereo camera trap project
25 July 2023 5:22pm
Insect camera traps for phototactic insects and diurnal pollinating insects
20 March 2023 9:39am
25 May 2023 7:09am
OK, thanks!
10 July 2023 1:57pm
Hi @abra_ash , @MaximilianPink, @Sarita , @Lars_Holst_Hansen.
I'm looking to train a very compact (TinyML) model for flying pollinator detection on a static background. I hope a network small enough for microcontroller hardware will prove useful for measuring plant-pollinator interactions in the field.
Presently, I'm gathering a dataset for training using a basic motion-triggered video-capture program on a raspberry pi. This forms a very crude insect camera trap.
I'm wondering if anyone has any insights on how I might attract pollinators into my camera field of view? I've done some very elementary reading on bee optical vision and currently trying the following:
Purple and yellow artifical flowers are placed on a green background, the center of the flowers are lightly painted with a UV (365nm) coat.
A sugar paste is added to each flower.
The system is deployed in an inner-city garden (outside my flat), and I regularly see bees attending the flowers nearby.
Here's a picture of the field of view:
Does anyone have ideas for how I might maximise insect attraction? I'm particularly interested in what @abra_ash and @tom_august might have to say - are optical methods enough or do we need to add pheremone lures?
Thanks in advance!
Best,
Ross
20 July 2023 4:40pm
Hi Ross,
Where exactly did you put the UV paint? Was it on the petals or the actual middle of the flowers?
I would recommend switching from sugar paste to sugar water and maybe put a little hole in the centre for a nectary. Adding scent would make the flowers more attractive but trying to attract bees is difficult since they very obviously prefer real flowers to artificial ones. I would recommend getting the essential oil Linalool since it is a component of scented nectar and adding a small amount of it to the sugar water. Please let us know if the changes make any difference!
Kind Regards,
Abra
Senior Technical Specialist, Monitoring & Technology, ZSL
18 July 2023 1:44pm
Wildlife Conservation Drones & Technologies Summit 2023
16 July 2023 10:04pm
Pinniped Time-lapse Camera Surveys in the Southern Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore 2019-2022
13 July 2023 2:46pm
Tools for automating image analysis for biodiversity monitoring
12 July 2023 4:50pm
Project Spotlight: Monitoring tropical freshwater fish in Kakadu National Park with drones, underwater cameras and AI
12 July 2023 3:40pm
12 July 2023 3:58pm
During Andrew's talk, @dmorris put out a call in the chat that might be relevant to folks catching up on the video, so I'll drop it here too:
Re: Andrew's fish work... part of the reason I got in touch with Andrew a few weeks ago is that I'm trying to keep track of public datasets and public models for marine video that have basically this gestalt (video where fish look fishy-ish). I think we're getting close to enough public data to train a general-purpose model that will work well across ecosystems. My running list of datasets is here:
https://lila.science/otherdatasets#images-marine-fish
Let me know if folks know of others!
There are also a grand total of two public models that I'm aware of that sort of fall into this category... one is Andrew's:
https://github.com/ajansenn/KakaduFishAI
The other is:
https://github.com/warplab/megafishdetector
If folks know of other publicly-available models, let me know about those too!
2023 Canon Oceania Grants - Environmental Grant AU$5,000
7 July 2023 1:47pm
What does "EK" stand for (as in "100EK113")?
4 July 2023 7:00pm
5 July 2023 12:14am
Most trailcam manufacturers use OEM camera designs from factories that cater to many different applications and companies. Most likely, Bushnell didn't design the camera circuitry and write the software, hence what you're seeing is the vanilla software from the reference design created by the image processor manufacturer used by the camera. My guess is the EK stands for "Evaluation Kit" and the design firm that designed the circuitry for the Bushnell trailcam didn't change the software for the file naming.
5 July 2023 3:58am
I like your hypothesis. I'm going with that until someone demonstrates otherwise. It's less fun than finding out that Elsa Kramer's birthday was January 13th (or November 3rd?), but it seems plausible. Reconyx went the extra 0.00001 miles, I guess, to change one string in the code.
New Add-ons for Mbaza AI
4 July 2023 12:00pm
14 September 2023 1:31pm
@LucyHReaserRe At this area in the past, we have tried using a normal trail IR camera, but with very limited sensitivity. I have thought about adding the IR fog lights out there to help, but was leaning towards the thermal cameras to allow for more types of data to be taken from the images in the future i.e. age class based on heat signatures.
Thank you all for providing input, I will look into each of these ideas!