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Sunarto,; Sollmann, R.; Mohamed, A.; Kelly, M.J.
Camera trapping for the study and conservation of tropical carnivores
2013  The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (28): 21-42

Past studies on tropical carnivores and other secretive animals relied on indirect evidence of animal presence such as tracks, scats, or scrapes. While such evidence can be useful for basic studies, using remotely-triggered camera traps offer researchers more reliable evidence of animal presence and, with appropriate study design and analysis, provides an array of opportunities to investigate carnivore ecology. We present an overview on camera trap uses for the study and conservation of wildlife, with a particular focus on tropical carnivores. Our goals are to promote proper and effective application of camera trapping and related analyses. We highlight major research avenues, give relevant examples and lessons learned from published material and from our own experiences, and review available resources for implementation, from preparation and camera trap field set up, to data management, analysis, and presentation of results. Our review considers sampling design with respect to target species or groups of species, the state variable(s) of interest, what constitutes a sample, sample size needed, collection of supporting data (independent variables), reducing bias/minimising error, and data collection schedule. We also highlight some available camera trap database management packages and available statistical packages to analyse camera trapping data. We discuss presenting findings to a wider audience so results become useful in the conservation and management of species. Finally, we discuss future development of camera trapping technology and related techniques for the study and conservation of carnivores in the tropics.

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