Camera Traps – Ewaso Lions

Thanks to Panthera, we now have two camera traps to assist us in documenting night visitors. Camera traps are digital cameras equipped with motion sensors, which take photos automatically when an animal (lion, leopard, hyena, etc.) passes by and sets off the camera.

I’ve never used one before, but I’ve been intrigued for some time, having followed the adventures (and often the misadventures) of fellow camera trappers like Nakedi Maputla, who studies leopards in the Kruger, and the “Camera Trap Codger” who has turned his interest in trapping into an art form.

We hope that our camera traps will give us close-up photos of animals that we normally couldn’t get close to. They’ll help document the numbers and types of species which are not always easy to spot from a vehicle or during the day time. Plus, the candid photos of wildlife in the absence of humans may give us insight into some of their natural behaviors.

The other night we set up a camera trap in the Conservation Area near camp here in Westgate. After fiddling with the settings, tying it to a tree trunk with several ropes, and giving it a blessing that no hyena shall eat it, we left the trap to do its thing.

A key part of the camera trapping process is the anticipation leading up to checking your camera to see what it may have captured. This morning on our dawn patrol through the Conservation Area, we came across three hyenas plodding down the road. We were both excited that they may have passed our camera and terrified that our brand new camera may have become hyena chow.

The camera had some slight scratches from a hyena tooth, but luckily, the camera was still in one piece. Back at camp we downloaded the images and were thrilled to find that some curious hyenas passed by the trap and posed nicely.

This is just the beginning. We will continue to use the camera traps in various areas around Samburu and see what other photogenic wildlife we can “capture”.