Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique has released hundreds of thousands of pictures onto the Internet, for volunteer research.
Internet users all over the world are invited to participate in identifying animals, tracking population growth and assessing behaviour. Participants are able to access the photos, taken with motion-sensitive trail cameras hidden all over the park, through the Gorongosa WildCam Web site.
Gorongosa started placing cameras around the park in 2012, to track animal population recovery after war in the country.
In a blog post, a member of the team explained: "Over those exciting beginning months, we began documenting the life (especially the night-life) that was racing back from the brink after a devastating civil war."
The number of cameras was increased to 50, with the additional cameras placed in more remote, unexplored places. They are now generating hundreds-of-thousands of photographs each year. This is more than the team can analyse, so it was decided to make this data available to the public.
How it works:
1. A random picture from one of the cameras is shown to the volunteer researcher on the Web site.
2. The volunteer selects the type of animal from a long list beside the photograph.
3. The volunteer then selects how many of that animal are in the picture and what behaviour it is displaying.
4. If there is more than one type of animal, the process is repeated. If not, they move on to the next picture.
If the participant does not know what type of animal is in the picture, there is the option to narrow it based on colour of the animal and type. A description of each animal can also be pulled up if there is still confusion.
Each photo is shown to a small number of people at first. If not everyone selects the same animal, the photo is shown to a larger group to filter out errors. If confusion persists, the photo will be tagged and a researcher will look at it to identify.
If strange or unusual behaviour in animals is spotted, participants are able to tag the photos to alert scientists.
The park is home to large animals like lions, antelopes, and elephants, and small creatures like birds, reptiles, and insects.
Cameras are regularly checked to see if they are still working, and to change batteries and replace the memory cards. Helicopters are used to access cameras in remote places, such as the limestone gorges in the far North-Western region of the park.
There are nearly 2 000 active volunteers after less than a month of operation.
The Web site was created by Zooniverse, a citizen science Web portal that runs similar projects around the world.
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