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Camera Traps
Monitoring large rainforest mammals is a difficult task. Animals such as tapirs, deer, jaguar, puma, and other cats are cryptic and occur in relatively low densities. Encounter rates in line transects are very low, therefore
it
is difficult to estimate their density. In recent years, a method based
on camera traps has become popular and has successfully been used to
survey large cats around the world.
Camera traps (also known as scouting, trampas, or
automatic cameras) are cameras that are connected to a motion sensor. They are equipped with a motion sensor that triggers the camera when an animal passes in front of it. There is a wide range of different
models, all with advantages and disadvantages.
We are using two kinds of cameras; Deercam, a film camera,
and Cuddyback, a digital model. We use the two models to help us
answer different questions. The digital model is ideal for surveying
the use of mineral licks. Batteries last several weeks, and a 256 MB
memory card can hold several hundred images. Another
advantages of digital cameras is the
ability to download images directly to a computer. This is very useful
for us when planning our captures. With the cameras we can find out what species visit licks, how
many individuals visit and at what time of the day they visit.
The film cameras are used for surveying areas of 50 to 100 square kilometers in size. For a standard camera trap survey we place up to 45 camera stations (two cameras facing
each other in order to get an image of both sides of the animal for
identification) on a regular grid covering the study area, with1-2 km between stations. These camera trap surveys give us a wide range of information. They are well suited for inventorying the large mammal fauna of a site in order to compile a species list. They also give us detailed data on the activity patterns of many species as well as habitat use. For some cat species we were able to estimate density by identifying individuals using capture-recapture models. All camera trap surveys were carried out in collaboration with the WWF AREAS project.