Wildlife Welfare

Camera Traps in Wildlife Research: Welfare-Neutral Monitoring

Camera trap technology provides valuable wildlife data with minimal welfare impact, representing a model for non-invasive monitoring.

Key Facts

Camera traps capture wildlife behavior without capture or handling
Motion-triggered cameras are deployed across millions of locations globally for research
Camera trap networks have documented species presence, density, and behavior at landscape scale
Flash cameras can cause brief disturbance but infrared cameras are entirely non-disruptive
Citizen science camera trap networks provide vast datasets for conservation research

Welfare Considerations

Camera traps represent an ideal welfare-positive research technology: they provide high-quality behavioral and population data without any requirement for animal capture, handling, or marking. The almost complete absence of welfare cost makes camera traps the preferred monitoring method wherever they can answer the research question. Expanding camera trap networks for both research and citizen science creates welfare-neutral wildlife data at unprecedented scale.

What You Can Do

Support citizen science camera trap programs in your area
Donate to wildlife research organizations using camera trap monitoring
Advocate for camera traps to be used as the default monitoring approach where feasible
Set up a wildlife camera in your garden to monitor and share local wildlife data