A new rapid systematic literature review has raised concerns over how wildlife researchers consider animal welfare when using camera traps in ecological and conservation studies.
Published in Animal Welfare (Volume 34), the review by Emeline Nogues, Ava Arends, and Professor Marina von Keyserlingk examined 267 peer-reviewed studies from the past five years in the fields of ecology and forestry. The team found that fewer than 8% of these studies explicitly addressed how camera traps might affect the welfare of the animals being studied.
Camera traps are often promoted as a non-invasive method of data collection, but the review highlights growing evidence that certain species may alter their behaviour in response to camera equipment, including light, sound, or human scent. Despite this, most papers reviewed either failed to mention potential impacts or framed the technology as benign without offering supporting evidence.
The authors urge ecologists and conservation scientists to adopt a more nuanced approach, recommending that wildlife welfare be considered in conjunction with conservation goals. They also suggest that journals request authors to reflect on the potential impact of their methods on individual animals, even when ethical approval is not required.
The study forms part of the Animal Welfare Foundation’s Wild Animal Welfare series and is freely available under an open access licence.
Read the full study here: Rapid systematic literature review: Camera trap sampling in ecological studies: Considerations of wildlife welfare
