Miscellaneous - Sounds Wild
Research Cameras

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Trail Cameras and wildlife research

At dusk on a summer evening on Admiralty Island near Juneau in Southeast Alaska, a little brown bat emerges from a cervices in the rocks at the bottom of a cliff. Nearby, a motion triggered camera captures a ten-second video of the bat flying off, and later returning. Across Alaska, more and more biologists are using these motion-triggered cameras to capture video and still images of wildlife for all kinds of research projects.

For example, the cameras are a useful compliment to hair snares. Biologists frequently use strands of barbwire to catch bits of hair and fur, especially from bears and wolves, because the hair follicles provide information-rich DNA. Motion cameras help researchers learn even more about who visited the site. they help improve study designs, hair trap placements, the effectiveness of scent lures, and document animals that came close but were not sampled.

Biologists in Southeast Alaska use strategically placed cameras and well-designed algorithms to provide insights into deer numbers and densities in the lush coastal rainforest. These are also paired with DNA samples gleaned from deer pellets collected in the areas.

Wolf researchers in Southeast are also using cameras to learn about wolf scavenging behavior. They’re also using cameras on beaches to learn more about predation of unlikely food source for wolves – sea otters.