Wildlife caught on cam: Photo project documents Calgary's animal population
A three-year wildlife monitoring project in the city of Calgary has captured more than 100,000 images in an effort to better understand how species and humans interact in natural park spaces.
The Miistakis Institute, a non-profit charitable research group at Mount Royal University, gathered data from 97 motion-activated cameras set up by Calgary Capture across 19 natural area parks from May 2017 to May 2020.
In total, 125,765 images were captured, allowing Calgarians and people around the world to classify wildlife through an online platform called Zooniverse.
“It's incredible how much wildlife we have in the city. I'm sure no one's surprised that both deer and coyotes are very habituated in our city, but we also have moose, red fox, raccoon, cougars, and the odd bear,” said Tracy Lee, project manager for the Miistakis Institute.
“From an educational perspective, I think it helps Calgarians understand that we are coexisting with wildlife, but we could do better and there's things we can do, even just following kind of courtesy or general park rules that are already out there.”
For example, the project also captured more than 200,000 images of dogs that were off-leash and 89 per cent of those were in areas where dogs should be on a leash.
Lee says the study noticed a large majority of natural wildlife coming out at night as a result and helped city workers identify which areas of parks to close off to allow wildlife to flourish undisturbed by human activity.
“We’ve also got cameras now under the new underpasses that have been built to facilitate wildlife movement in the Glenmore Weaselhead and in Fish Creek Provincial Park,” Lee said.
“So there's a really good practical application to test mitigation projects that the city or the province is implementing to try to help facilitate wildlife moving around our city.”
(Supplied/Calgary Captured)
Results from Calgary Captured can now be used as well to facilitate better urban development to protect Calgary’s ecological network.
Landscape analysis supervisor with the City of Calgary, Vanessa Carney, says plans are already in the works.
“Data from Calgary Captured is already informing Calgary Parks’ habitat management decisions,” she said.
“An understanding of how wildlife species make use of our parks and move across the urban landscape give us insight into how the city can better plan for a healthy, connected park system.”
Shana Barbour with the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society agrees that this project has also given her team of volunteers a strong opportunity to engage with wildlife activity and change their practices in the future.
“It’s a great thing to be involved in such an important partnership, helping to create awareness about the need for coexistence, sharing of parks and green spaces, and actions that we can all take to ensure that wildlife can move and thrive in this busy, urban setting.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga, Ont.: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Ont., Peel police say.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
FBI says Trump was indeed struck by bullet during assassination attempt
Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump’s near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president’s ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused the former U.S. president’s injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.