Lochaber wild boar/feral pig camera trap survey, 2015

Quality Control

Records are of animal images captured by camera traps, so there is a very high degree of confidence in the data. Unidentifiable images and images of birds and domestic livestock were excluded from the dataset. As the study was primarily set up to establish habitat use, estimates of population density are restricted in accuracy by the limited number of camera traps used and the lack of information on range covered by individual animals.

Method steps

1. Sampling was by setting camera traps in a grid within ten randomly-selected 1 km2 squares at a density of 20 traps per square in a grid with trap locations at least 40 m apart. Unsuitable squares (e.g. too steep to safely access, sensitive breeding birds, harvesting areas) were excluded, and camera points falling in unsuitable locations (e.g. waterbodies) were shifted to nearby suitable locations within the same square, giving a total of 360 camera locations. Cameras were set at each location for 13-18 days, giving a total of 2960 days recording. Each square was assigned to one of the four habitat types if it contained >20 ha of that habitat. Some squares were assigned to more than one habitat.

The survey covered parts of the National Forest Estate in the Glen Garry area of Lochaber, Inverness-shire