Our Caught on Camera project works with community groups and volunteers who use motion-sensing cameras in the long-term monitoring of wildlife.
Motion-sensing cameras are easy to use and, with a bit of training, anyone can do it. Volunteers can install and retrieve the cameras and then help identify the animals ‘captured’.
Cameras have been installed at several places in Victoria. Two key sites are Wombat State Forest and Bunyip State Park, where we are monitoring the effects of fire on wildlife.
Since 2012, the Friends of Bunyip State Park have been collecting data about the response of small mammals to the 2009 wildfires, which burnt 45% of the park. Through their monitoring, the Friends discovered that the park is a key refuge for the nationally endangered southern brown bandicoot. In 2019, 54% of the park was damaged by bushfire, this promoted a increase in monitoring efforts in Bunyip to include eco-acoustic monitoring, scat surveys and photo points to monitor forest recovery.
Caught on Camera projects are supported by a Community Volunteer Action grant from the Victorian government.