Frequently asked questions

Thank you for your interest in the WildObs project. Please see below some frequently asked questions. Don't hesitate to contact us with any other questions. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How and why should I use camera traps to study wildlife?
• When can I start using WildObs to process my camera trap images/videos?
• How can I share my pre-processed camera trap data with WildObs? 
• How can I access published camera trap data?
• Where is WildObs data published?

How and why should I use camera traps to study wildlife?

Camera traps can be used to conduct a wide range of wildlife-related analysis, such as:

• tracking marked individuals across an ecosystem, 
• determining habitat associations between species and elements of their ecosystem, and;
• measuring the effectiveness of conservation actions. 

A wide range of deployment strategies can be employed when using camera traps to target specific communities, such as arboreal mammals or arid desert reptiles.

If you are getting started for your first camera trap survey and not sure where to start, we recommend the Ecological Field Monitoring Protocols Camera Trapping Module issued by Ecological Monitoring System Australia (EMSA). The protocols described are suitable for the vast majority of terrestrial faunal monitoring across Australia. 

When can I start using WildObs to process my camera trap images/videos?

WildObs is developing an image management platform in collaboration with Agouti to host Australian-centric computer vision models that can classify Australian wildlife from images and videos. 

The launch date for the WildObs platform is mid-2026.

If you are interested becoming a beta tester of the platform or being a first user once launched, please register your interest here.

How can I share my pre-processed camera trap data with WildObs? 

If you have legacy camera trap data that has been processed by another method, either manually or by another platform such as Wildlife Insights, the observation data and/or tagged images can be contributed to the WildObs project. 

The legacy data submission process is in development and a new guide will be linked here soon.

How can I access published camera trap data?

Current WildObs camera trap observation data can be queried and downloaded using the WildObsR package. 

WildObs data can also be accessed via our sharing partners. Visit Where is WildObs data published? for more details about how to access WildObs data that is published elsewhere. 

Where is WildObs data published?

Visit the article Where is WildObs data published? to learn about where data is published on WildObs, with our partners and plans for future publication locations. 

For more information on the data standards that WildObs uses, visit WildObs data standards.

To understand how data shared with WildObs will be used and what information will be public, visit Data sharing terms.