On April 6-9 WCS Russia held a workshop on spatially-explicit capture-recapture (SECR). This method uses camera trap data to estimate population density of individually recognizable animals, for example, tigers and leopards. Pictures of the same animals serve as 'recaptures'. Geographic coordinates of camera traps allow to conduct spatial analysis and calculate home range size and probability of recapture, which in turn is used to estimate density and abundance of the population.
Participants spent long evening hours fitting various models, interpreting results and making plans for future work. By the end of the workshop, every participant made substantial progress.
Participants of SECR workshop at WCS Russia Sikhote Alin Research center.