In Katavi National Park, rangers are stepping up wildlife monitoring with training in the use of camera traps

A lion in Katavi National Park, Tanzania. Photo by Tobias Brixen/CIFOR-ICRAF

Katavi National Park, a remote and little-known nature reserve in western Tanzania, is home to an impressive collection of charismatic African wildlife, including buffalo, zebra, giraffe, elephant, crocodiles, hippos, cheetah, leopard and lion.

But given the park’s remoteness and limited resources, there’s little data on how large those populations are—or whether they’re increasing or decreasing. That’s crucial knowledge for conservation management, especially given that there have been reports of poaching and illegal hunting in the area. Moreover, Tanzania’s new game meat sales program, which aims to legitimize “bushmeat slaughter,” could lead to more wildlife losses in the country without sufficient data on the different users, uses, and impacts of wildlife.

In this context, the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Trade, Development and the Environment (TRADE) Hub is supporting monitoring efforts in the area, starting with an initial training on camera trap deployment in June 2022. Subsequently, a research team led by Paulo Wilfred, a lecturer at the Open University of Tanzania, conducted the first full camera trap and wildlife survey in Katavi in ​​May this year, which took place in both the wet and dry seasons. It generated millions of camera trap images, including images of endangered wildlife such as lions (Panther lion) and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus).

Last month, the team hosted a workshop to train national park staff and other local conservation stakeholders – wildlife managers and rangers, researchers, and representatives of the general public, including village chiefs and government officials – in monitoring wildlife using camera traps.

During the workshop, participants learned about the history and potential of camera traps, and about camera trap planning and deployment. They were trained to identify species from camera trap images using AI-based software, and to estimate animal densities from these data using estimation approaches such as Space-To-Event (STE) analysis in R.

The training included many practical exercises, including a field demonstration in the park itself. “The game managers and rangers were excited to learn a new technology for monitoring wildlife, in addition to the traditional road or walking routes,” Wilfred said. “They were also excited to learn that they could use camera traps in their law enforcement activities and to monitor nocturnal species and carnivores.”

Clockwise from left: African elephant, zebras and duikers in the forest photographed in Katavi camera traps. Photo by CIFOR-ICRAF