One researcher at Michigan State University says he’ll be spending the next three months pulling memory cards on more than a thousand trail cameras – yet the data powered by the camera traps is proving to be more reliable and less intensive than traditional methods of monitoring the health of the endangered gray wolf population.
In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the gray wolf population has recovered enough that the species may no longer need to be labeled as endangered, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The insight comes from a series of 1,311 trail cameras, the first time the state has successfully tracked and monitored the gray wolf population for an entire year.
While the gray wolf is still a federally protected species, the latest research suggests that the numbers have exceeded the DNR’s population recovery goals. Data from the camera surveys could help the gray wolf be officially reclassified as a recovered species.
While researcher and doctoral candidate Matt Nelson says he will be pulling memory cards to gather the next year’s worth of data from now until October, the series of trail cameras is proving to be a less labor-intensive and less weather-dependent method of monitoring the species’ population.
Previously, the DNR would track the population of the gray wolf using snow tracks in the winter, which could follow wolf packs across as much as 60% of the Upper Peninsula. But monitoring the health of the species by snow tracks only offers a seasonal insight into the population and can be highly weather-dependent.
Using a series of trail cameras, researchers used machine learning software to analyze the images and flag wolves and disregard other species, with researchers fact-checking the computer program for accuracy. The count was then put into an “event-to-space” algorithm that estimates the population based on what the cameras detect.
At the same time, researchers continued to use snow tracks while the trail cameras were used. Both studies found a similar estimate for the wolf population, suggesting that the trail cameras have a similar accuracy.
The snow tracking method estimated 768 wolves, while the camera survey estimated 773 during the winter of 2024. In the fall months, the camera population estimate exceeds 1,000 wolves, with the highest being 1,198 in October 2024.
The fact that the trail camera survey didn’t lead to any surprises compared to traditional survey methods suggests that the tech is accurate. “There were no real surprises. The camera survey worked really well and aligned with what we know about wolf ecology,” Nelson said.
By using a series of trail cameras, researchers were able to monitor the fluctuation of the wolf population across an entire year, noting that the count was the lowest in the winter but surged again in the spring after the birth of new pups.
The cameras tend to detect the most wolves in the fall, as that’s the time of year when the younger pups are old enough to join the pack instead of staying behind in the den.
The Michigan DNR has a similar program for tracking the gray fox, but the trail camera system could eventually be used to track the population of more than those species.
Next, researchers are pulling SD cards from more than 1,000 cameras for the 2025 data.
You may also like
Browse the best trail cameras or the best cameras for wildlife photography.
