Camera Catastrophe

This month I setup camera traps at 32 locations in an effort to document dholes in Khao Ang Rue Nai. We placed the cameras in areas where we found dhole or prey sign (I have seen no dholes). After a combined 81 trap nights of the cameras in the forest, the picture is grim: 1 mongoose, 1 monitor lizard, 3 elephants (in a sanctuary that is over-run with elephants), 8 sambar deer, and 8 barking deer. However, I have yet to develop the film from cameras setup with road-kill deer parts as bait, so maybe…


I am extremely frustrated with my equipment. I am using second-hand Camtrakker models (film cameras) that are not made to withstand the rigors of the tropical forest. Furthermore, film is rapidly getting harder to find and have developed. It is now the beginning of the rainy season and the humidity and moisture is already a problem. I am rapidly losing camera traps. I started with 18 working cameras. I am down to 7! (6 have problems with the infrared beam (most likely due to humidity), 3 were destroyed by elephants, 2 are clogged with black ant eggs inside the workings of the camera). To solve the ant problem, I bought some silicone caulk which I will use to seal the cameras. Using this caulk also aids the silica gel packets I place inside to absorb moisture. I am also inquiring about building elephant resistant housings and finding a fix-it man, but this will take time (everything happens slowly here, so that means…months). I am considering learning to build my own digital camera traps so I know how they work and how to fix them. But, this seems difficult as all of the sites for parts I have been referred to are no longer in business. 


There are numerous digital camera trap models available in US retail stores for hunters, but most are not capable of withstanding the very harsh and humid Thailand environment. However, we have positive reviews from colleagues in western Thailand and Brazil who are successfully using digital camera trap models (which are also capable of capturing video clips). So, my colleagues at the Smithsonian and I have narrowed in on commercial models of digital cameras to purchase (ca. $200/camera). We are also putting in the order for two GPS/GSM collars for dholes this month to leave room for manufacture time so they are ready to be deployed in the field in September.