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Camera Trapped: Elusive Wildlife Caught in Photos

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Cat Eyes

ocelot in costa rica

(Image credit: Courtesy of Organization for Tropical Studies, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org.)

With hundreds of camera traps, a team of researchers has documented 105 mammal species at seven tropical-forest sites across the globe. This image of an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) was taken at Volcan Barva, Costa Rica. It's one of nearly 52,000 photos, taken as part of the first global camera trap mammal study done by The Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network (TEAM).

Sly Cat

african leopard

(Image credit: Courtesy of Museo delle Scienze (Trento Museum of Science), a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

An African leopard (Panthera pardus), a near-threatened species, caught in a camera-trap photo in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania.

Fuzzball

pig-tailed macaque

(Image credit: Courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

A Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) captured in a photo in Bukit Barisan Selatan, Indonesia.

Pig Tails

pig-tailed macaque

(Image credit: Courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

Now you can see why the animal is called the pig-tailed macaque.

Spots

lowland paca in brazil

(Image credit: Courtesy of Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

A lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) in Manaus, Brazil.

Night Lights

South American tapir in camera-trap photo

(Image credit: Courtesy of Conservation International Suriname, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

A South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris) caught on candid camera in Central Curiname Nature Preserve.

Chimp Mug

common chimpanzee in camera-trap photo

(Image credit: Wildlife Conservation Society as part of the TEAM Network Partnership/www.teamnetwork.org.)

A common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) says "cheese" as a camera trap snaps its mug in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda. Chimpanzees are listed as endangered species.

Here Kitty, Kitty

jaguar in camera trap photo

(Image credit: Conservation International Suriname as part of the TEAM Network Partnership/www.teamnetwork.org.)

A camera trap caught this jaguar (Panthera onca), a near threatened species, in Central Suriname Nature Reserve. This protected area was found to have the greatest species diversity.

Giant Anteater

giant anteater

(Image credit: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia)

Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Giant anteater) is a vulnerable species, photographed here in Manaus, Brazil. The image is part of the first "Global Camera Trap Mammal” study.

Indian Muntjak

indian muntjak

(Image credit: Courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

An Indian muntjak (Muntiacus muntjak) at Nam Kading, Lao People's Democratic Republic; this site showed the lowest species diversity of the seven sites studied.

Collared Peccary

collared peccary

(Image credit: Courtesy of Conservation International Suriname, a member of the TEAM network - http://www.teamnetwork.org)

A collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) spotted at the high-diversity site of Central Suriname Nature Reserve.

Jeanna Bryner
Managing editor, Scientific American

Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.