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Serengetti Research Paper

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In the 53 photos that I identified for Snapshot Serengeti I saw: 2 photos with giraffes, 8 photos with wildebeest, 4 photos with impalas, 1 photo with Thompson’s gazelles, 4 photos with Zebras, 2 photos with reedbucks, 1 photo with elephants, 4 photos with buffalo, and 27 no animals present. The last photo that came up for me to identify was very interesting, I have it saved so that I can share it with the class to see if you can help me identify what is in the picture! In a lot of the pictures that I classified, there were different species of herbivores grazing at the same time. Using these pictures could possibly help the researchers to identify how they coexist in the Serengeti. Also, they can see which animals mingle with others and which do not. In all of the pictures that I classified, zebras and wildebeest were the only two species that I saw mingling. Most of the other species were in herds of the same classification. The photos could also help to determine population change among a species. If over the course of the study they are used …show more content…

A pro of these infrared camera traps specifically, is that they are virtually undetectable to the animals since they do not have a flash. These camera traps are also always on, collecting data both day and night. The researchers do not have to be anywhere near the animals, or the camera for the data to be collected. This allows for minimal interference from humans. In addition, the photos collected by these researchers can be shared and examined multiple times. This helps to prevent human error while counting animals in the field. One con of the camera traps however, is that if anything causes the camera to malfunction lots of data could be lost. The researchers don’t check the cameras every day I am sure, so if the camera stops working they could have little to no data when they do come back to check

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