A lioness feeding her cubs. (Image credit: SnapshotSerengeti)

A lioness feeding her cubs. (Image credit: SnapshotSerengeti)

Over 300,000 photographs of wild animals in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania have been cataloged and should provide data for future ecological research and educational projects. The photographs were of 40 separate species including lions, zebras, honey badgers and the rare zorilla and aardwolf.

Between June 2010 and May 2013  225 camera traps gathered pictures over 1,000 square kilometers. Each camera typically captured three images each time it was turned on and so produced millions of unique photographs, but not all of them contained animals.

The research team partnered with The Zooniverse, a citizen science network, for help classifying each image, identifying species and individuals, as well as counting populations and characterizing animal behaviours.

Original research paper published in Scientific Data on June 8, 2015.

Names and affiliations of selected authors

Alexandra Swanson, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.