Camera trap

A camera case is a remotely controlled camera, which is equipped with a motion detector, an infrared sensor or a light barrier. Used camera traps to accommodate wildlife both in the context of hunting as well as in field research. They are important tools in studies of the breeding behavior of birds, and on rare nocturnal species, size of populations and their habitat use. To this end, camera traps are hung in places that wildlife with high probability to visit as along animal crossing. As soon as the sensor detects the presence of an animal, a photo is triggered without disturbing the wildlife.

A pioneer in the development of camera traps was Frederick Walter Champion. In the Sivalik hills in northern India he used to accommodate wildlife cameras that use triggered by trip wires. With this technique, he received notable recordings belonging to the first of wild Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, sloth bear and Indian wild dogs.

Only at the beginning of the 1990s the concept of the use of camera traps in field research has evolved over Tiger. These models were composed of a camera having a wide-angle lens, a flash light, a solar collector and a pressure-sensitive mat. The solar panel was mounted as high as possible in a tree to operate the flash unit, which was placed a few meters away from the camera. The device connected to the camera mat was about 1 cm buried deep in the ground, covered with leaves and set so that the camera only triggered when an animal it came, it was heavier than 5 kg.

A few years later, the first camera traps were tested with infrared heat sensors in the field of research, but only at low temperatures yielded useful results when the body temperature of animals examined is much higher than the temperature of the environment.

Meanwhile, a distinction is made between automatic and self-actuating camera traps. To the automatic systems include cameras which are programmed continuously or at certain intervals to trigger. They are used primarily in behavioral biology studies on birds, but are become very popular as webcams. In contrast, self -triggering cameras are inactive until an event triggers a recording. The trigger is either mechanically or infrared. Send Active infrared- controlled camera traps from a continuous beam of light which, when cut, the image is triggered. Passive infrared- controlled camera traps have two side- mounted sensors that measure movement and temperature and trigger the image when change of measured values.

Camera traps cost $ 150-650 U.S.. Video systems can cost U.S. $ 1000. The prepared devices are occasionally damaged or stolen, so the scientists considerable financial loss and loss of valuable data. Newer devices are therefore provided with lockable metal housings and specially secured to prevent theft and damage. Besides housing are offered, which are colored in camouflage, protect against moisture and are so isolated that the click of the camera shutter is not audible.