Wildlife of Los Angeles

FAQ

There aren't any animals in my photo sequence! What happened?
Sometimes our remote cameras are triggered by moving, wind-blown vegetation, or when the sun's rays hit the sensor at just the right angle. We've positioned our cameras to prevent this as much as possible, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Please select "None" as the tag on the right hand side of the page in these cases.

Where are these cameras located?
Our cameras are located with in 2km of the LA River running from the Simi Hills into downtown Los Angeles (see map below). In our efforts to quantify how urban wildlife uses patches of land, we have cameras in more remote, rural areas as well as areas with high amounts of human traffic.

Why are there humans present in these photos?
For this project, monitoring developed areas commonly used by humans is just as important as having cameras in more "wild" areas. From this we can learn how wildlife responds to places that people use, whether it be urban or rural. Our cameras may be triggered by hikers in the distance (but still within the field of view of the camera), curious folks inspecting the camera, or any passers-by. We'd of course rather see a coyote show up in our pictures, but data is data!

I'm mostly marking pictures of squirrels and birds! Where is the larger wildlife?
Rodents and birds are the most common types of wildlife that appear on our cameras -- they're small, abundant, and are more adapted to living in spaces that may be shared with humans. We still have plenty of pictures of larger animals like coyotes and deer, but since there are less large animals than small animals on any landscape, you're less likely to see them among our randomized photo sequences. We thank you very much for your help and patience -- keep looking, and odds are you'll get to see something pretty cool!

Where can I leave comments or questions about project photos?
Please visit our Talk page and let us know your thoughts about the Wildlife of Los Angeles Project!