Wildlife camera

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A camouflaged wildlife camera with flash, motion sensor and camera lens

As wild camera or animal observation camera one (today usually is digital ) camera case referred to with motion sensors fitted and / or temperature sensors and to provide images of shy wildlife. Depending on the intended use, the wildlife camera is equipped with either a flash or an infrared flash .

Wildlife cameras are also used as surveillance cameras if a full-fledged CCTV system is not to be installed.

In contrast to a game camera, so-called Crittercams are attached to the animal itself in order to study its movements and habitat.

History of the wildlife camera

A game camera below the Lusens in the Bavarian Forest National Park

The history of the game camera began with the pictures of wild animals by George Shiras III in the late 19th century. In 1906, National Geographic published the first images based on its materials. The first cameras were equipped with a 35 mm film for up to 36 pictures. The development of the game camera led from the infrared flash to the transmission of the recordings by MMS or e-mail.

Features of the wildlife camera

  • The radius of the exposure is the zone in which the camera releases. This means that a picture will be taken if a living being enters this area or any other movement occurs. The range varies between five and 30 meters during the day and is also very dependent on environmental influences such as temperature, weather, lighting conditions and the type of object. At night, the number and power of the IR LEDs are added, which additionally limit the illuminated area and thus the range, which is therefore significantly below the values ​​measured during the day.
  • The sensor angle at which the camera is triggered can be set to values ​​from 10 to 90 °.
  • The trigger time shows how quickly the device takes a picture.
  • Since the date and time are shown on every photo, the viewer knows exactly which animal was at the monitored point at what time.
  • The image resolution, i.e. the total number of pixels , can be selected from 1 MP (1152 × 864 pixels) to 12 MP (4000 × 3000 pixels) with the latest wildlife cameras.
  • Newer devices can also have a radio option. You can use a built-in SIM card module to send the photos you have taken as an MMS to a mobile phone or to an e-mail address.

Legal admissibility

In Germany, the forest is usually open to the public. The admissibility of video surveillance in publicly accessible rooms is regulated by Section 4 of the Federal Data Protection Act . The competent supervisory authorities for data protection in the countries that have dealt with the issue have found out from this regulation that the private use of wildlife cameras in publicly accessible forests is fundamentally prohibited. Exceptions can be requested for scientific purposes.

The owner may monitor private property such as his own garden. For data protection reasons, no public space (street, sidewalks) may be monitored / photographed. Visitors must also be made aware of this so that they have the opportunity to decide against visiting if they do not want to be photographed. Semi-public paths, e.g. B. from the street to the mailbox or to the doorbell, which, for example, a postman cannot avoid, must also be left out.

Web links

Commons : Camera traps  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Photography.nationalgeographic.com: Milestones in Wildlife Photography
  2. ↑ buzer.de: § 4 - Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG)
  3. ↑ Hessian Data Protection Officer, 41st Activity Report 2012 ( Memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); Hessian Ministry of the Environment, leaflet on the data protection compliant operation of animal observation cameras from October 2012 ; Independent State Center for Data Protection Schleswig-Holstein, information on the use of wildlife cameras from June 3, 2013 ( Memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); State data protection officer of Rhineland-Palatinate, press release from October 16, 2013 ( memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); State data protection officer of Baden-Württemberg, 31st activity report 2012/2013 , p. 157.