Snapshot Europe
A Coordinated Mammal Monitoring Initiative
Snapshot Europe is a continent-wide initiative to monitor terrestrial mammals across Europe using standardized camera trap surveys. Every year, it brings together scientists across the continent to collect open-access data on mammal diversity and distribution. Snapshot Europe aims to improve understanding of how species respond to environmental change while fostering collaboration in wildlife research and conservation across scales.
Why participate?
Collaborative Publications
All participants are invited as co-authors to a data paper publication presenting the data.
Early access to data
Data contributors receive priority access to analyze the data (as soon as the first round of data cleaning is completed).
Benefits
Collaboration with a continent-wide network of scientists; opportunity to collaborate in large-scale analysis; co-authorship opportunities.
How to participate
Each year, scientists, conservationists, and citizen scientist groups across multiple countries set up camera traps to collect data on mammal populations.
Who?
Researchers, conservationists, students, NGOs, government agencies, and citizen scientist groups with access to suitable camera traps and field sites
What?
Deploy 7–40 camera traps across 10–50 locations that match a chosen combination of development levels (urban, suburban, rural, wild, other) and habitat (e.g., agricultural, forest, grassland, wetland).
Use any camera model that:
- Has an infrared (IR) flash,
- Has a trigger speed ≤ 0.5 seconds,
- Can take rapid bursts of at least 3 images per trigger.
Set the cameras 50 cm above ground and spaced at least 200 meters apart (but no site can be more than 5 km away from another site).
No bait or scent lures are allowed. Take note when cameras are set along trails.
Where?
All countries across Europe and all settings and habitat types, including urban, suburban, rural, and wild areas.
When?
September 1st to October 31st of each year, with a 2-week leeway on both sides of this period:
Cameras are deployed and each site is monitored for at least 3 weeks
November-December: Images and metadata are uploaded on Wildlife Insights
January: images are reviewed to either confirm or edit the AI classification
February - onwards: data are cleaned. The data paper publication follows.
Snapshot Europe is a Europe-wide initiative for standardized monitoring of terrestrial mammals using camera traps. Launched in 2021 by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in partnership with Euromammals and Snapshot USA, it unites hundreds of scientists, conservationists, and local citizen-science groups every year to simultaneously collect data on mammal diversity and distribution across all European countries and habitat types — from urban to wild landscapes.
The primary goal of Snapshot Europe is to advance our understanding of how species respond to rapid environmental and climatic changes by assembling a standardized, open-access dataset that enables researchers and conservation managers to study European wildlife at large spatial and temporal scales.
Thanks to its collaborative nature, Snapshot Europe also aims to strengthen collaboration and create opportunities to advance wildlife and conservation research at national, international and continental scales.
Snapshot Europe is a part of Snapshot Global, a growing network of collaborative initiatives for the monitoring of wildlife via coordinated and standardized camera trap protocols. The network spans several parts of the world, including USA, Japan, and Brazil, and operates under a unified methodology to enable global-scale comparisons and conservation insights.
I have a model of camera that does not match the criteria described on the webpage. Can I still participate?
- Unfortunately no. We aim at standardizing the data collection as much as possible.
Models with a trigger speed slower than 0.5 and/or different types of flash will likely
affect the pool of species that can be potentially captured by the cameras and
increase heterogeneity in detectability across arrays.
Habitat and setting: what should I select?
- Choose the options that better describe the overall area sampled. For example, if
your array overlaps 70% forest and 30% grassland areas, select ‘Forest’.
We have already a sampling protocol for ongoing research and cameras are placed
higher/lower than 50 cm off the ground. Can I use data from these cameras for Snapshot?
- Unfortunately, only data from cameras set at around 50 cm from the ground can be
accepted in Snapshot. Standardizing the height at which the cameras are placed
across the different subprojects ensures that a certain species has the same
probability of being detected across the Snapshot network. We only allow minor
adjustments to cameras’ height to accommodate topography (e.g. when placing
cameras on sloping terrains).
Can I use video?
- No, we are only accepting images at this time.
Should I organize the camera locations in a grid or in a transect?
- Your array can have any shape you prefer, but each site must be at least 200 meters
apart from all the other sites and within 5 km of at least a camera.
Who is going to process the images for species identification?
- After uploading the images to Wildlife Insights, collaborators will review the images to
confirm or edit the classification suggested by the Wildlife Insights’ AI model.
How many locations do I need to sample to participate?
- Each project has to sample at least 10 sites and aim to collect at least ~400 trap
days. Any combination of number of sites and trap days that lead to a total of 400
camera trap days is equally acceptable, as long as there are at least 10 sites
sampled. We highly recommend sampling more than 10 sites, as some cameras
might fail. If a collaborator has access to fewer than 10 cameras, we suggest
sampling at least 6 sites in the first month and then moving the cameras to new sites
(keeping in mind the rules about camera distance within a subproject described
above).
Can I upload a .csv file of the data but not the images?
- Unfortunately not. To ensure transparency in the dataset and improve data quality,
we would like each record in Snapshot Europe to be available for review in case of
problems.
My country does not allow me to show images of people on public websites. What should I
do?
- The Snapshot Europe project within Wildlife Insights is set to delete all the images
catalogued as containing people as soon as a collaborator confirms the classification.
The pictures containing people are replaced with black pictures as placeholders while
the information about the presence of humans in a certain picture is recorded and
preserved in the dataset under generic labels (e.g. species: Homo sapiens; tags:
Pedestrian, Camera Trapper, etc.).
I would like to participate to the density estimation protocol. How does it work?
Density estimation protocol:
How long does it take to do the calibration?
- The first time takes maybe 10-15 mins but after that it only takes around 5 mins.
What if my site has limited spaces to put cameras?
- Same requirements as the standard Snapshot protocol - minimum of 10 locations
200 meters apart but more locations is better. If you can, move cameras halfway
through the field season to survey more locations.
What counts as “random” for the camera placements?
- “Random” relative to animal movements. Randomly generated points are best, but
any locations that were not selected to increase wildlife detection probability are fine
(avoid game trails, water sources, logging roads, etc.)
What qualifies as representative enough for the area? (i.e. agricultural area but cannot put
cameras in ag fields or urban area with limited possibilities)
- Just do your best to select locations that are as representative as possible.
Is there a minimum trigger distance (i.e. 6 or 9 meters)?
- No, the signs will account for differences in detection distance between cameras.
What if some of my cameras are not “random” and are on features?
- Denote the feature on Wildlife Insights but calibrate it anyway. We can filter
cameras/deployments out later, it’s better to calibrate all the cameras.
What if I didn’t calibrate before deploying my cameras?
- You can calibrate your cameras during retrievals instead.
I do not have the resources/time to do the calibration. Can I still participate in Snapshot?
- Collecting data for density estimation is optional, but we hope many will see the
added value of getting estimates of density across Europe.
Starting in 2023, you can contribute your EOW data to Snapshot Europe. How to contribute?
- Collect your data: follow the EOW protocol and make sure you’ve covered at least 400 camera trap days across 10 locations between mid-August and mid-November.
- Process and upload the images in Agouti following the EOW guidelines.
- Share your results following the guidelines that the EOW team will provide and contribute to Snapshot Europe
Part of EOW but prefer to collect data specifically for Snapshot Europe?
No problem—just use the Snapshot Europe protocols outlined above to ensure your data fits seamlessly into the broader initiative.
In participation with:
