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The Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs), Camera Trap Data Collection 

Ver: 1
Status of Data: onGoing
Update Frequency: asNeeded
Security Classification: unclassified
Dataset Published: 2026-09-09
Dataset Last Modified: 2026-09-08
Metadata viewed 4 times
Dataset accessed 5 times
Metadata Created: 2026-09-06
Metadata Last Modified: 2026-09-09
How to cite this collection:
Amir, Z., Luskin, M., Wraith, J., Sharma, R., Hewa Vithanage, D., Yasir, M., Marendy, P., Morris, J. & Broughton, C. (2026). The Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs), Camera Trap Data Collection. Version 1. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://dx.doi.org/10.25901/7v30-3y20 
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPWildObs – EcoPlots
HTTPWildObs Database
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URL
HTTPro-crate-metadata.json
The Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs) is a national camera-trap data platform that brings together previously fragmented wildlife monitoring datasets into a consistent, well-structured, and reusable resource. Through the application of shared data standards and robust data management pipelines, WildObs ensures that camera trap data can be stored, analysed, discovered, and shared reliably across projects, organisations, and time.

This metadata record provides a gateway to camera trap datasets available through TERN EcoPlots, ALA Occurrence Records, and the WildObs data platform. Users can access structured survey data through EcoPlots, browse a curated selection of wildlife images through ALA, and explore species records derived from camera trap observations . By enhancing data accessibility and interoperability, WildObs supports ecological research, biodiversity monitoring, and evidence-based conservation and land management across Australia.
 
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 
Purpose
Across Australia, thousands of camera traps collect millions of wildlife images each year. Despite their value, these data are often stored in isolated systems, use inconsistent formats. This fragmentation limits cross-project collaboration and reduces the long-term value of the data.
The main purposes of WildObs platform are:
  • To enable consistent, scalable, and collaborative use of wildlife camera-trap data across Australia for long-term monitoring.
  • To deliver shared digital infrastructure, standards, and tools that connect camera-trap data across projects and regions.
 
Lineage
Data not provided. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure StepsData not provided.
Spatial Description
WildObs compiles camera trap data collected across australia's terrestrial ecosystems.
 
Temporal Coverage
From 2010-04-19 to on going 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Data Quality Assessment Scope
Before curated camera trap data is uploaded to our database, it is processed through forty-plus automated tests that validate the package’s structure, content, and cross-resource consistency. Only after data packages have successfully been validated in this last data curation step, will they uploaded to the database.

QAQC tests (executed in this order):
  • WildObsID global validation (distinct IDs; DP id matches project id)
  • Flatten nested metadata lists
  • Normalise contributors against an internal dataset tracker; enrich with ROR + ORCID
  • Sources list QC
  • License inspection and standardisation
  • relatedIdentifiers QC
  • Project metadata QC
  • WildObsMetadata schema (7-test internal structure)
  • Spatial GeoJSON normalisation
  • Temporal block QC per location
  • Taxonomy alignment against cross-package taxonomy reference table
  • Bibliographic citation present, and reconciled against relatedIdentifiers so a citation can never contradict the RAiD it cites
  • Homepage / project URL QC
  • Observation / deployment / media / covariate key alignment (validation only)
  • Primary key uniqueness within each resource (deploymentID, mediaID, observationID) (validation only)
  • NA dateTime detection (validation only)
  • DateTime format + timezone consistency (validation only)
  • Logical NA enforcement on deployments and media
  • Column compatibility for cross-DP row-binding (validation only)
  • observationType enumerated values
  • classificationMethod enumerated values
  • count > 0 enforcement
  • filePath NA imputation
  • fileMediatype enumerated values + inference from extension
  • filePublic ↔︎ filePath URL coherence
  • Deployments required numeric constraints (validation only)
  • deploymentTags normalisation
  • Drop extra deployments columns
  • coordinateUncertainty: replace 0/NA sentinels with a value derived from coordinate precision
  • FLII schema cleanup
  • Clamp 10 always-non-negative covariates to ≥ 0
  • Covariates / deployments row count alignment
  • locationName alignment across spatial / deployments / covariates / temporal tables
  • deploymentTags standardisation
  • Mint RAiD identifiers via ARDC API; skips any DP already in published_pid_registry.csv, and records the PID to the registry before wr
  • camtrap-DP profile validation against the vendored JSON Schema in utils/profiles/ (report-only; offline and pinned)
 
Data Quality Report
Data not provided. 
Data Quality Assessment Outcome
The data should be of very high quality with minimal errors. Any data that fails QA/QC tests and requires manual inspection will not be uploaded to the WildObs Database until the relevant corrections are applied.
 
ANZSRC - FOR
Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
Conservation and biodiversity
Ecology
Environmental assessment and monitoring
Population ecology
Data Stream
Camera Trap
GCMD Sciences
EARTH SCIENCE - ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR
Horizontal Resolution
Point Resolution
Parameters
biological taxon name
scientific name
Project
Wildlife Observatory of Australia
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Topic
biota
Author
Amir, Zachary
Co-Author
Luskin, Matthew
Wraith, Jenna
Sharma, Renuka
Hewa Vithanage, Daraka
Yasir, Muhammad
Marendy, Peter
Morris, Jo
Broughton, Colin
Contact Point
Amir, Zachary
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
ALA Occurrence Records
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068, Australia.
Contact Us
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 
TERN services are provided on an "as-is" and "as available" basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure.
Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN.

Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting 
Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.