Remote Camera Captures Reclusive Wildlife

John Fraley, Information Officer in Northwestern Montana

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Wildlife photographers will tell you how difficult it is to photograph wolverine, mountain lion, or grizzly bear in the wild.  But with the "Manley System," researchers routinely take dramatic photos of these reclusive species.

FWP Grizzly Bear Management Specialist Tim Manley developed the remote cam system for fun, at first, then modified it for use in wildlife studies.  Manley’s original system consisted of a standard 35mm camera and a motion sensor that tripped the shutter.  He reasoned that if he could miniaturize the system and produce a sufficient number of units, it could be used observe grizzly bears over a wide area.

"I knew that if we could apply this system, it would be a great way to ’recapture’ grizzly bears without actually handling them," says Manley.  He explains that researchers can examine photos of grizzlies and distinguish bears marked with neckbands or radio-collars from unmarked bears.

Manley found that he could use a compact 35mm camera with the shutter release modified to be triggered by the signal from a passive infrared sensor.  When a bear visited a bait station and passed by the sensor, day or night, the camera would capture the bear on film.  Manley found a battery and flash system that would last at least two weeks, and housed the components in a metal ammo box to complete the system.  Dozens of these units were used successfully in the grizzly bear studies conducted through the mid-1980s and early 1990s in the South Fork of the Flathead River drainage.

Manley’s system caught on quickly among wildlife researchers because it offered a "hands-off" method of studying the movements of marked animals.  Manley built about 300 units that were used for a variety of species in the western United States, as well as for Siberian tigers, Alaskan brown bears, Asian bears and many other wildlife species around the world.  He and other researchers published the method in the Wildlife Society Bulletin in 1994, and the system was featured in a 1995 book on wildlife survey methods.

Manley’s increasing responsibilities as a wildlife biologist led him to drop his camera unit construction.  Currently, a number of companies manufacture similar units.  But many of Manley’s systems are still operating, some for as long as 15 years.

"The camera system fills a niche in wildlife research," Manley says.  "It can be quickly deployed at baited sites over a wide area, is inexpensive, and makes physical recapture of the animals unnecessary."  Manley added that images from the cameras allow researchers to compare the ratio of marked and unmarked animals, providing the information needed to estimate the population size in a particular area.

Manley’s remote camera system has saved wildlife researchers thousands of hours of effort, producing striking photos of natural wildlife behavior.  Once only a fun project for a young biologist, this idea has yielded a harvest of information about our most shy species of wildlife.