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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Movement Ecologist studying the where, why, and how animals move throughout our world. Current work is investigating the movement and energetics of large neotropical bats in a changing environment with ephemeral resources.
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Environmentalist and Python developer working in the realm of Remote Sensing. Fascinated by the intersection of technology and nature, with a focus on machine learning, ecological modeling, and biodiversity monitoring. 🌍
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Systems Engineer at Edge Impulse, experiencce with hands-on edge machine learning for wildlife conservation
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Join us as we count down the WILDLABS community's honorees in the first-ever #Tech4Wildlife Community Choice Awards!
3 August 2023
Exciting opportunity for an experienced biodiversity monitoring expert in ZSL's conservation department
18 July 2023
Article
In 2019, the U.S. Navy initiated a time-lapse camera study to investigate seal presence at select haul-out locations in the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters of Virginia, which are important areas to Navy training...
13 July 2023
Apply for funding (£500,000-£750,000) to develop software systems, which will help to improve biodiversity monitoring by automating the analysis of images and videos
12 July 2023
Applications are now open till 23 July for the 2023 Canon Oceania Grants with the category of the Environmental Grant valued at AU$5,000. The finalist will be selected based on the environmental and social merits of...
7 July 2023
Article
At Appsilon, we are always working to enable our users to get the most out of our solutions. With this in mind, we are happy to introduce two new add-ons to Mbaza AI.
4 July 2023
In this Conservation Tech Showcase case study from Osa Conservation, you’ll learn about how technology is aiding their long-term efforts to prevent wildlife crime, protect critical species, and build a climate-adaptive...
22 June 2023
In this interview between Rob Appleby and Ellie Warren, we discuss the importance of DIY, recycling, and sharing tools in order to make our community more sustainable.
14 June 2023
Careers
Permanent and Full Time role at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
8 June 2023
Acorn removal study of Nendo Dango, Ecological Restoration Research group at the University of Granada
5 June 2023
New paper in Methods in Ecology and Evolution
24 March 2023
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Recently updated products
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hi @LucyHReaserRe I've found a couple of layers or three of athletic/sports tape does the trick. This kind of thing: Good luck,Rob |
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Camera Traps | 1 year 6 months ago | |
Hi, just wanted to let you know the existence of EcoAssist. It's a no-code interface which makes the use and installation of the... |
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Camera Traps | 1 year 6 months ago | |
Perfect, thank you so much! |
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Camera Traps | 1 year 6 months ago | |
This looks like a great spec. Looking forward to seeing final design. |
+5
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Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
Hi Everyone,We chose sigfox becuase it seems to have better range and is plug-play, whereas LoRa requires more custom programming and updating. Getting a gateway cost us $... |
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Biologging, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Emerging Tech, Sensors | 1 year 7 months ago | |
Great work, unfortunately, I'm not familiar with programming but computer friendly enough to follow a good tutorial. I was wondering if you will share your findings?Thanks for the... |
+2
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Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
Have a look at @tessa_rhinehart 's TechTutors on scaling up acoustic surveys. This is addressed at 11 min: The "hexadecapus" is the hardware, but transfer is automated by... |
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Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 1 year 7 months ago | |
My most prized camera trap image - a hummingbird caught on camera! |
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Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
I would agree that primates probably aren't your biggest concern, animal-destroyer wise. At least in the Malagasy rainforests, lemurs are highly arboreal so if you have trail cams... |
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Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
Thanks so much!! |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Drones, eDNA & Genomics, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
There is this other WILDLABS discussion thread where tons of people provided input on their experiences with lots of different brands & models which may help. You might... |
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Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago | |
Done lots of this over the years and it depends on the species really. If you want incubation behaviour and hence success or otherwise using temperature then the Thermocron... |
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Biologging, Sensors, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Camera Traps | 1 year 7 months ago |
New microprocessor for low power AI camera & audio applications from Microchip
3 June 2022 8:36pm
CV4Ecology Summer School
3 May 2022 6:13pm
Interval based video for behavior recording
3 May 2022 9:46am
Case Study: Cape Leopard Trust uses WildID to process camera trap image data
6 April 2022 11:32am
Advice Needed: Camera Trap Occupancy Modeling for Small Data Set
16 March 2022 7:33pm
26 March 2022 10:59am
Couple other papers looking at predator-prey interactions with camera trap data & multi-species occupancy models (though you may/probably know about some of them already!) -
Van der Weyde, L. K., Mbisana, C., & Klein, R. (2018). Multi-species occupancy modelling of a carnivore guild in wildlife management areas in the Kalahari. Biological Conservation, 220, 21-28. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717316464.
Murphy, A., Kelly, M. J., Karpanty, S. M., Andrianjakarivelo, V., & Farris, Z. J. (2019). Using camera traps to investigate spatial co‐occurrence between exotic predators and native prey species: a case study from northeastern Madagascar. Journal of Zoology, 307(4), 264-273. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jzo.12645.
Kleiven, E. F., Barraquand, F., Gimenez, O., Henden, J. A., Ims, R. A., Soininen, E. M., & Yoccoz, N. G. (2021). A dynamic occupancy model for interacting species with two spatial scales. bioRxiv, 2020-12. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.16.423067v2.abstract.
28 March 2022 6:47pm
These are great, thank you!
News: The Latest in Conservation Tech (March 24)
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24 March 2022 12:00am
Experience with Microwave Motion Sensors!
23 February 2022 10:22am
16 March 2022 3:07pm
@TomRS @greghall and @htarold my initial (and brief) tests with the microwave sensor (same as this one: https://wiki.dfrobot.com/MicroWave_Sensor_SKU__SEN0192) I have suggest it's really sensitive to movement at fairly close range (~2m or less). Whilst this is impressive (like, it can detect my finger moving a few mm @ ~1-2m), it suggests that in order to avoid a lot of false positives/blank images, a fairly high tolerance or threshold would have to be set in the code. This will take a bit of trial and error to get right I reckon. Even though it has an in-buit potentiometer to toggle 'sensitivity' (equates to distance), even at the lowest setting, which is what I have it at, it's still really sensitive out at several metres. It definitely does appear to have an ability to tell the difference between a 'one off' or superficial movement, and more consistent movement that might be expected when an animal moves through an area. Maybe a combo PIR (interrupt) and microwave sensor (double checks after wakeup) could be a goer...although that could be a bit slow...Anyway, thought I'd share...
20 March 2022 5:20pm
20 March 2022 6:05pm
Thanks @PaulG and @TomRS I've now ordered some of the same model units, so shall hopefully get to test em out soon!
Cheers,
Rob
Apply now: Women in Conservation Technology Programme, Kenya
8 March 2022 12:00am
Introducing the WILDLABS On the Edge Fellows
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10 February 2022 12:00am
Comparisons: Close-up Lenses for Camera Traps
9 January 2018 8:49am
14 January 2022 9:34pm
14 January 2022 10:28pm
19 January 2022 11:29am
Wifi trail camera
3 December 2021 8:47pm
16 January 2022 11:41pm
This seems like an eminently sensible thing to try. The main issue I've seen with most wifi cameras is that their antennas are omnidirectional - i.e. they send in every (horizontal) direction, because they don't know where the other wifi endpoint is. That means their signal doesn't go very far, but it's easy to connect. The tplink (and ubiquiti) long range devices have very directional antennas, so their signal is very focussed in that direction, which effectively means it remains quite strong for some distance. They also have to listen for the (more-interesting) return signal though from the wifi camera, and that could cause you grief. However, the highly-directional antenna can pick up fainter signals, from the direction they are pointing at, so it may be ok.
Getting wifi (or any radio signal) over any distance depends a lot on circumstances (distances, terrain, vegetation, weather, interference, ...) so I can't generalise to say this would/wouldn't work. You'd have to try it and see (or get into wifi signal strength measurements and calculations, which you can do with some apps). Some cameras also have removable antennas, so you could replace an omnidirectional (stick) antenna with something much more directional. Or, set up a wifi bridge, with e.g. a ubiquiti point-to-point link, with one end is close to your wifi camera (to pick up its weaker signal) and the other end at the house.
There are plenty of wifi wildlife cameras on ebay, which I understood use their own wifi hotspot to learn how to connect to a broader wifi network - same as the reolink, etc. when you first set them up. Lacking a broader wifi network they might offer their own as a fallback, so you can download while walking by. But I've not tried them, as they are quite expensive, and I have little faith their wifi signal would reach far enough (as per above) for our needs. I'm trying to build my own wildlife cameras now, using esp32cam modules and an external wifi antenna, just waiting on a few more parts :-)
17 January 2022 1:23am
Markusb very true but those camera are not truly wifi, they are a wifi /Bluetooth camera , meaning the create there own wifi network to down load the pics you have to connect to that network.
Now in saying that I have not experimented in writing a code using a programming language to be able to turn on and off wifi or Bluetooth and then turn it back off and tell the code to be able to do this ever two hours or so.
But using a small form factor pc that is connect to a ubiquiti or tplink long range wifi device this is possible to a Bluetooth / wifi trail camera
17 January 2022 2:27am
Ok, understand. Note, the bluetooth feature is very short range, just to configure the camera from your phone when standing nearby. Wifi will give you some longer range and greater bandwidth for image/video downloads. If it is only offering its own wifi network then that is sad, but unsurprising (they try to be very simple/cheap). Doesn't change my point though about the signal strength - if you are trying to get a really long distance (which is "over 100m" on most wifi cameras) then you will need to add something in between. A dedicated NUC/RPi/small-PC would be one option - but your reolink already has a simple PC built in, that offers the remote control and download features and storage to an SD card, etc. You can write your code to talk to that, from your home, using the reolink API/CGI (https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000625763-What-is-CGI-API). The small PC might still need to handle the "long-distance" wifi link if appropriate for your needs, in which case a ubiquiti/tplink wifi bridge (and a PC at home) might be more cost-effective? That can basically extend the camera's wifi back to your home.
This might need some whiteboarding and actual site-information to optimise :-)
Camera traps and community knowledge in Eastern India
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20 December 2021 12:00am
Identification of Wildlife in Camera Trap Images
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20 December 2021 12:00am
Feedback Needed: Wireless Camera Traps
4 October 2017 3:33am
16 November 2017 7:14pm
Just be aware of the limitations; you'll be transmitting at a very slow baud rate on frequencies that may have strict duty cycle (transmission time) and ERP (transmission power) limits. Check up on the rules for the region in which you intend to operate and make sure that the restrictions fit in with your intended application.
27 November 2017 5:03pm
The following two papers describe our attempst to develop an open source RPi camera trap platform with long range communications capability, and may be of interest:
Nazir, S., Fairhurst, G., Verdicchio, F., 2017. WiSE - a satellite-based system for remote monitoring. Int. J. Satell. Commun. Netw. 35, 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1002/sat.1176
Nazir, S., Newey, S., Irvine, R.J., Verdicchio, F., Davidson, P., Fairhurst, G., Wal, R. van der, 2017. WiseEye: Next Generation Expandable and Programmable Camera Trap Platform for Wildlife Research. PLoS One 12, e0169758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169758
More details can be found here: https://erg.abdn.ac.uk/wise/
/Scott
7 December 2021 5:54pm
Vasudev
I have had no issues using ubiquiti device and pushing internet out to 5 miles line of site, what I am curious what are you using for you camera on the other end, I have always wanted to try and build a long distance wifi trail camera ( true wifi ).
is it solar powered or battery powered that has been my issue trying to figure out the power issue
Cellular and Lora camera traps
20 May 2021 10:51am
21 May 2021 8:36pm
Hi Antoine,
I am intrigued myself about how well a LoRa-based trail camera might work. I wonder if the 'LoRa' element is a more traditional radio connection? And of course the system still appears to rely on a cellular connection at the base station end. But interesting nonetheless.
On the radio side, there's also the CuddeLink model: https://www.cuddeback.com/cuddelink
However, I'd be sitting down when you look at the price.
I've had reasonable success with older model 3G cameras such as the Bolymedia MG983G-30M. From memory, it couldn't transfer video files larger than 10sec in length and it gets a bit glitchy if the batteries are running low. But, it worked well enough for me at the time.
If you do end up looking closer at the 'LoRa' model, please let us know how it works.
Cheers,
Rob
24 May 2021 4:09pm
Hi Antoine,
I had not seen these before, but I'll echo Rob in wondering if the radio links in these are truly what most would consider 'LoRa'. That tech/protocol generally has very low data transfer rates and would be quite challenged in sending pictures. That said, what they call it may not be relevant if it works for you. I would just be cautious of thinking it could integrate with other 'LoRa' devices or networks. Some other web sites that mention this system describe the radio link as 'proprietary'.
Kyler
7 December 2021 4:51pm
Antoineede they are a mesh style of camera, one links to the other and then send pictures back to the home unit where you either send them via cellular or you check the sd card. The cover Lora and cuddielink cameras do this but they play hell on battieries.
I had a cuddelink system and got rid of it , the home unit was to hook up to a pc and then from there you could easily wept a scrip to send to txt message or email etc but they scrapped that idea
Try our open-source automatic camera trap detection/labeling tool!
12 November 2021 8:31pm
1 December 2021 10:37am
This sounds so cool! I will try it out and spread the word.
6 December 2021 5:40pm
Wow, Zamba looks like a great tool. I'm curious about the terms of data use and privacy of the data uploaded to Zamba by users. I couldn't find that info on the website, could you point me in the right direction?
7 December 2021 3:55pm
Hi Morgan! We're currently still working out the exact terms. Are there any specific concerns that you had?
Low-cost underwater camera trapping and deep learning
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30 November 2021 12:00am
Technical Difficulties: The Promise and Pitfalls of Machine Learning for Conservation
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23 November 2021 12:00am
Caiman: Images as Sources of Intelligence
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18 November 2021 12:00am
Technical Difficulties: Pangolin in a Haystack
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11 November 2021 12:00am
Opportunity: Wildlife Connectivity Technician (Seasonal)
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3 November 2021 12:00am
Technical Difficulties: Understanding the Realities
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13 October 2021 12:00am
Technical Difficulties: A Deployment Checklist
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13 October 2021 12:00am
Advice needed: Beginner's Conservation Tech Starter Kit
22 September 2021 6:06pm
5 October 2021 11:52pm
Hey Rob!
Thanks for all the tips! Getting 2 SD cards was a good reminder. I'd put extra batteries on my shopping list, but forgotten an extra SD card. Do you have a recommendation for a minimum SD card size?? I don't have any understanding of how long it'll take one of any size to completely fill up.
I also think I'll try a little of both for video vs. still images, but the majority of it will probably be video to see how the squirrels are behaving/fighting.
And I'm way ahead of you with the picnic table idea. These squirrels will be treated to some very fun props and dining opportunities along the way.
5 October 2021 11:56pm
Hey Harold, that'd be amazing! I'll get in touch for more info, thank you!
8 October 2021 1:02am
Hey Ellie--
Glad to see you getting started with this.
I'll speak to the data-storage question, it might be worth it for you to do something like paying for extra google drive space rather than go through the external hard drive process. That way you're ensuring you don't have to worry about losing your drive or just leaving it at home. It's $30 US for 200GB of space for a year, which is quite reasonable, especially for a single recorder / camera trap.
I'd also make sure you have an SD card reader, and maybe a sealed card holder/wallet to keep data safe while it transitions from the field. How much to budget for batteries will depend on exactly what sensors you end up purchasing but in my experience, ordering high-end alkaline batteries is the best bet (for example, in the Duracell line, their Procell D batteries really do perform better than the normal consumer level coppertop batteries). I'd recommend playing around with the scheduler software for whatever acoustic sensor you end up obtaining to figure out whether you'll be limited by power or storage depending on how you set things up.
Old camera traps go cellular
6 February 2020 12:00pm
27 August 2021 4:30pm
Oh very cool Robin. Do you mind if I ask how much it is for the unit?
27 August 2021 5:43pm
Hi Rob,
prices drop but I payed 88€ for mine.
7 September 2021 5:18pm
Thank Capreolus,
for your feedback, did you try it where the cellular network is weak?
Thank you.
How do I use animal-borne imaging technology in marine and terrestrial environments?
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16 August 2021 12:00am
Workshop in analysis of camera trap data using distance sampling
7 August 2021 1:15pm
Tech Tutors: How do I use tech ethically?
5 August 2021 3:28pm
25 March 2022 5:02pm
I'll take a look into these options, thank you for the advice!