Fundy National Park of Canada

More Than Pretty Pictures

Say cheese! Animals from all over the forests of Fundy National Park have been getting their pictures taken and giving us a snapshot of their lives. Using non invasive techniques, park staff can learn a great deal about the health of various animal populations and the state of the greater Fundy ecosystem region as a whole. 
Since 2004, various sites throughout the park have been set up with motion and heat sensitive cameras.  From 2004- 2008 hair collection traps were also set out at these sites.

Just like the high tech forensic science used to solve crimes, we can  use the DNA from hair to tell us more about animal populations in the park; Who is this animal?  Who are they related to? Is the population healthy genetically? How many are there? Where did they come from?  Believe it or not, using our pictures, DNA from these few collected hairs and sophisticated modelling techniques, we can answer all these questions and more. Best of all, the animals are giving us all this knowledge unwittingly in the course of their natural behaviour, a quick photo opportunity or a quick scratch on a post and they are on their way.

Check out our projects!

Currently, we are using cameras for the Marten and Fisher Monitoring project.

From 2004-2007, we used cameras for the Cougar Scent Post project.