Marin Wildlife Watch

Marin Wildlife Watch has updated its image cataloging technology. This will keep the wildlife camera images well-organized and protected for future research. This technology will pre-screen images to expedite cataloging. It also allows volunteers to catalog images remotely, from home, a library, or anywhere a computer and Internet connection are available. The first volunteer training sessions took place in winter 2024. Visit One Tam to learn more about Marin Wildlife Watch, including volunteer opportunities.

Wildlife Insights is a cloud-based service for image identification, data management, and analytics. It is a collaboration of major wildlife conservation groups, technology partners, and philanthropy partners.

The Marin Wildlife Picture Index has been renamed Marin Wildlife Watch.

After three years and over four million images, the Marin Wildlife Picture Index released its first findings to the County Board of Supervisors.  

• Results From Baseline Study 2014–2017 pdf

The Marin Wildlife Picture Index is a collaborative project to help researchers learn about mammals living in Marin open spaces. A network of motion-sensor cameras placed on public lands collect images, without disrupting wildlife activity.

• Marin Wildlife Picture Index FAQ pdf
• Marin Wildlife Picture Index project map

Cataloged images are entered in to a cloud-based database, allowing researchers to identify species, the number of individuals, and the date, time, and location of wildlife activities. This data will help establish baseline abundance of individual species and mammals in general, identify wildlife hotspots, and determine population trends to indicate the well-being of wildlife in the area. 

Wildlife Picture Index Project (WPI) technology is internationally used and recognized as a method of passively collecting reliable, accurate, and rigorous scientific data on wildlife diversity and abundance. Abundance is a metric that tells you the relative representation of animals within a given area. For this project, the relative area is where the cameras are set up in Redwood Creek Watershed and San Geronimo Valley.

This project relies on community volunteers who meet regularly to catalog images and help service nearly 200 field cameras. Over 5 million images have been gathered over consecutive years, beginning in 2014. View the calendar for upcoming volunteer opportunities.

• Assess biodiversity of over 17 land mammal species in Marin.
• Track wildlife population changes. 
• Identify wildlife hotspots.

• Motion-activated camera array in regularly spaced grid.
• Citizen scientists to help maintain field camera and catalog large numbers of images.
• Scientific analysis of collected data to research and report on wildlife populations and diversity.

WPI project technology was developed jointly by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London, in coordination with HP Earth Insights and Conservation International.

One Tam partners include:

• California State Parks
• Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
• Marin County Parks
• Marin Municipal Water District
• National Park Service

• 2014: Pilot program to test WPI technology
• 2015–2018: Initial three years of data collection and image cataloging.
• 2019: Research analysis and initial reporting.
• 2020 and beyond: Continued data collection and ongoing process improvement.