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Summer 2018

Newsletter Archive

 

Calgary Captured Update

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The City of Calgary has been using motion-activated trail cameras to monitor wildlife in 13 of YYC's natural area parks since May 2017. With thousands of images collected each season, help is needed to classify the species "captured"! Calgary Captured, a citizen science project hosted on the Zooniverse web portal, enables the public to get a first-hand look into the diversity of wildlife in Calgary's parks while helping to identify the species seen. The wildlife data gathered from this project will help to determine which wildlife occur in the city and where, to expand knowledge and understanding of local biodiversity needed to inform conservation and management decisions.

During the first season, 120,000 images captured in May to August 2017 were classified by citizen scientists in just fifty one days. Most of the target species (medium-large terrestrial mammals) were captured in these images:

  • Beaver
  • Bobcat
  • Coyote
  • Northern flying squirrel
  • Moose
  • Mule deer
  • Porcupine
  • Raccoon
  • Skunk
  • Weasel (long-tailed) - listed as May be at Risk in Alberta
  • White-tailed deer

Images captured from September 2017 to February 2018 are now up on the site and ready to be classified! The Calgary Captured site provides species information and example photos to help you identify which wildlife species you find, and each image will be viewed by eight participants to ensure accuracy. Which wild neighbors will you find?