article / 27 July 2021

Wildlife Insights Launches

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 Wildlife Insights' Nicole Flores to learn how to get started with this platform yourself. Header Photo Source: Emmanuel Rondeau/WWF-US

One of the biggest challenges for people studying and managing wildlife data with camera traps is processing, analyzing and sharing the influx of images collected. Fortunately, Wildlife Insights helps to accelerate data processing and makes collaboration easier than ever before. 

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Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Zambezi Region of Namibia taken using a camera trap image using Camtraptions PIR motion sensor. (Photo Source: Will Burrard-Lucas/WWF-US)

The Wildlife Insights team has been working hard to build a tool that provides you with the power of artificial intelligence (AI) for species identifications, standardized data collection, secure cloud storage, and simple ways to share your data with your team and the public. 

That’s why we’re excited to announce the public release of the Wildlife Insights platform! Here’s what you need to know:

Accounts to upload and manage camera trap data

We’re now approving accounts for anyone who has camera trap data to share. Approved accounts will have full access to the system including:

  • AI trained to identify more than 700 species
  • Easy image uploads
  • Filters to focus your efforts
  • Bulk editing tools and shortcut keys
  • Roles offer flexibility to control how team members can access your project
  • Statistics updated on demand
  • Download your own data at any time
  • Privacy options including embargoes on data
  • Automated sensitive data protections

If you’d like to sign up for an account, visit app.wildlifeinsights.org to get started.

Public downloads

Wildlife Insights is open to any registered user to download public data and explore wildlife trends!

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A takin (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana), captured by camera trap. Corridor 8, Trongsa district, Bhutan. (Photo Source: Emmanuel Rondeau / WWF-UK)

All data provided through Wildlife Insights is standardized and includes detailed information about how the data were collected. This means that exploring large scale patterns and comparing how populations change across time is easier than ever before. As more researchers and organizations join Wildlife Insights, the public database will continue to grow to provide a richer, more diverse snapshot of global wildlife populations. Please read the Data Use and Citation guidelines if you plan to use public data for scientific analyses. 

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Female lion (Panthera leo) in the Zambezi Region of Namibia taken using a camera trap image using Camtraptions PIR motion sensor. (Photo Source: Will Burrard-Lucas/WWF-US)

With this release, there are multiple ways to explore the data:

  • Search projects by moving around the map and clicking on any dot to view project details.
  • Use basic and advanced filters to narrow your search by species, area, dates or project methodology.

Supporting transparency in data sharing

With Wildlife Insights, data providers have control over when their data is shared and how it is shared.

  • Embargoes give data providers and researchers the flexibility to keep their data private while they publish the data;
  • Sensitive data including the exact locations of sensitive species (currently defined by IUCN’s CR, EN, and VU categories) and images of humans are not shared publicly, unless the data provider approves access. These sensitive data remain visible only to the data provider.
  • Citations are automatically generated for each project and are included in every download package and on the public project page. All citations include persistent identifiers (Archival Resource Keys, or ARKs), which provide a permanent reference to the project and ensure the long term availability of the dataset. By providing a standard citation and ARK, Wildlife Insights helps to ensure that data providers receive credit and recognition for their data collection efforts. 
  • The new Notifications center gives data providers a summary of every public download request for their dataset, tools to approve or deny sensitive species requests, and a list of messages sent from public users.

Our vision for the future

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Leopard (Panthera pardus) in the Zambezi Region of Namibia taken using a camera trap image using Camtraptions PIR motion sensor. (Photo Source: Will Burrard-Lucas/WWF-US)

There’s a lot of exciting developments coming up to help you better manage and share data. In the next few months you can expect to see improvements in the data processing workflow, a new analytics dashboard, and an offline desktop client. Visit our website, or join our Community Forum to stay up to date with the latest from Wildlife Insights!


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