Accidental human capture" on cameras in the wild
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 4:13 am
Dr. Nyeema Harris, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan, uses remote-controlled cameras that start recording when they detect motion to study wildlife. Harris is not an anthropologist, but she does occasionally find people in her photos.
Between 2016 and 2018, Harris led a study using hidden cameras in Burkina Faso and Niger. The goal was to study the habits of the endangered West African lion. But the cameras ended up recording so much human activity that Harris decided to include it in her work. She compared people’s claims about visiting the reserve with their actual actions. “The data was really interesting, and I had to uncover it,” Harris says.
Images of people that cameras inadvertently capture in the wild are called “incidental human captures.” A 2018 study by the University of Cambridge found that Harris wasn’t the only scientist to have been caught doing so. Of the 235 researchers surveyed from 65 countries, 90% said their cameras regularly captured people, even in remote wildlife reserves.
Almost half of respondents reported detected illegal activities, including poaching, to law enforcement and environmental agencies, as well as the media. However, only 8% of projects were initially aimed at filming people.
Since the 1990s, cameras have become an essential tool for uruguay number data ecologists and conservationists. They have helped document a number of rare and endangered species and understand changes in ecosystems. Tens of thousands of hidden cameras have been installed around the world. Some researchers suggest that this network will eventually monitor the state of nature in real time. But the ethical rules of using footage of people are still being debated.
Many people don't want to be caught on video. In a Cambridge University survey, 76% of respondents reported that people nearby had interfered with their devices: smashed them, covered the lens, taken SD cards or the cameras themselves. In one case, a tree with a camera tied to its trunk was even burned. According to respondents, the main reason for such actions is fear: of the state, science, surveillance, or a combination of these three elements.
To protect the equipment, some researchers pay locals or make other arrangements with them. them that the cameras are only used to film wildlife. However, people may still have good reason to be concerned about the footage they capture.
To classify thousands of images from cameras, researchers often upload them to a public online database, where volunteers identify the objects in the images. This can mean that 20 to 30 outsiders can see each frame.
Between 2016 and 2018, Harris led a study using hidden cameras in Burkina Faso and Niger. The goal was to study the habits of the endangered West African lion. But the cameras ended up recording so much human activity that Harris decided to include it in her work. She compared people’s claims about visiting the reserve with their actual actions. “The data was really interesting, and I had to uncover it,” Harris says.
Images of people that cameras inadvertently capture in the wild are called “incidental human captures.” A 2018 study by the University of Cambridge found that Harris wasn’t the only scientist to have been caught doing so. Of the 235 researchers surveyed from 65 countries, 90% said their cameras regularly captured people, even in remote wildlife reserves.
Almost half of respondents reported detected illegal activities, including poaching, to law enforcement and environmental agencies, as well as the media. However, only 8% of projects were initially aimed at filming people.
Since the 1990s, cameras have become an essential tool for uruguay number data ecologists and conservationists. They have helped document a number of rare and endangered species and understand changes in ecosystems. Tens of thousands of hidden cameras have been installed around the world. Some researchers suggest that this network will eventually monitor the state of nature in real time. But the ethical rules of using footage of people are still being debated.
Many people don't want to be caught on video. In a Cambridge University survey, 76% of respondents reported that people nearby had interfered with their devices: smashed them, covered the lens, taken SD cards or the cameras themselves. In one case, a tree with a camera tied to its trunk was even burned. According to respondents, the main reason for such actions is fear: of the state, science, surveillance, or a combination of these three elements.
To protect the equipment, some researchers pay locals or make other arrangements with them. them that the cameras are only used to film wildlife. However, people may still have good reason to be concerned about the footage they capture.
To classify thousands of images from cameras, researchers often upload them to a public online database, where volunteers identify the objects in the images. This can mean that 20 to 30 outsiders can see each frame.