POSSIBILITIES USING TRAP CAMERAS FOR SURVEY OF WILD GAME

Abstract

           With the increasing number of snow-free winters in recent years, the use of footprint and excrement surveys has required the search for alternative methods survey of game. Autonomous animal observation cameras were hung in the forest and at the edge of the forest in the Botanical-Zoological Reserve of Praviršulis Tyrel. The following types of objects were selected: near the beaver dam, a random place in the forest, near the animal trail, near the road in the forest, near the places for attracting game animals. The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of conducting game counts using autonomous animal observation cameras. The study identified trends in the visit of animals to different sites. Red deer were found 5 times more often at the beaver dam than at a random location in the forest. Roe deer and boars were found 2.9 times more often at the forest edge than at a random location in the forest. Red deer were found 1.6 times more often at the edge of the forest than in the depths of the forest. From these results, we can conclude that the highest probability of detecting a moose, badger, wolf, and gray hare is near the beaver dam. Common raccoon dog were most commonly found in a random location in the forest.