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IN PICTURES: Curious animals check out wildlife cameras in Swedish forests

A researcher in Sweden has been sharing images of reindeer, lynx, red deer and elk staring intently at the camera traps he and his team hang on trees in remote parts of Sweden.

Published: 23 June 2019 12:02 CEST
IN PICTURES: Curious animals check out wildlife cameras in Swedish forests
The calf is staring intently at the camera. Photo: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Tim Hofmeester, a Dutch nature researcher based at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umeå, said that the animals frequently spotted cameras and came to investigate them. 
 
“We just hang them on a tree so you can easily see them,” he said. “You can try to hide it, but animals will always notice if there's a change to their environment.” 
 
Hofmeester leads the 'Scandcam' project, a joint venture between SLU and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, which uses camera traps to study mammal groups in Sweden and Norway. 
 
Earlier this month, he posted a picture of a rare white reindeer taken near Lainio, a village in the far north of Lapland. 
 
 
He said that while some cameras only take a few photos a month, the camera in Lainio was taking hundreds a day.  
 
“It was part of the range where the reindeer were feeding in the summer, so they were often walking through,” he said. “I couldn't tell you how rare they are, but we haven't had that many white reindeers on the camera.” 
 
The cameras are fitted with infra-red movement sensors and take ten pictures in quick succession if an animal passes. If there is still an animal there after the pictures have been taken, the cameras then take a further ten pictures. 
 
Here you can see a lynx investigating a trap to see what it was. 
 
…here is a curious elk. 
 

And finally, a red deer investigates. 

 
Hofmeester last December decided to post up a photo taken by the project each Tuesday. 
 
“I saw the images and thought it would be nice to get them out there, so I started Camera Trap Tuesday,” he said. “It's just have these images somewhere outside of our computers, where each image just becomes a number on a table.” 
 
Last Tuesday, he posted a picture of a hare taken during a project to investigate the impact of forest fires on wildlife, distributing cameras around a tract burnt in 2006. 

Here is a badger nosing its way through a patch of new growth on top of forest which was burnt out last year. 

Here's a hare enjoying the spring. 

And here is a lynx. 

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UNESCO

Sewage washes ashore at Norway’s prehistoric World Heritage site

Faeces, toilet paper, wet wipes and cotton earbuds were among the sewage littered around the UNESCO site of the pre-historic rock art in Alta, northern Norway.

Published: 20 April 2021 16:30 CEST
Sewage washes ashore at Norway's prehistoric World Heritage site
Prehistoric rock art at Alta, Norway.Andrew Arch/Flickr

The waste at the site of the petroglyphs, or rock carvings in the Alta Fjord, near the Arctic circle was discovered during a beach cleaning day.

“When we followed the path down, we quickly saw that something was wrong. When we looked a little closer, we saw that were was faeces, wet wipes, Q-tips and tampons there,” Line Mårvik Pettersen told state broadcaster NRK.

“It didn’t smell. So, it clearly had been there for a while,” She added.

The sewage was lodged in seaweed that washed ashore.

There was a similar problem in 2011 when a sewage pipe in the same area became clogged; it is unclear what the cause of the problem is this time around.

“So far, we have not received clarity as to what the reason is,” Magne Opgåard said.

READ ALSO: Europe’s highest sea cliff amongst beauty spots which could become Norway’s new national parks 

The rock carvings date back to between 2,000 and 7,000 years ago and represent the only prehistoric monument in Norway. 

They were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. The World Heritage site consists of four areas in Alta with petroglyphs. These are Hjemmeluft, Kåfjord and Amtamannsnes and Stortstein.

“We are a world heritage area, and our world heritage is one of the most beautiful things we have. This is Alta’s face to the outside world, so it’s clear that it’s very unfortunate that you get sewage washing up in such a nice area,” Anita Taipo, department head at the Alta Museum, said.

“Had this happened in the middle of the season in 2019, where we have up to 1,000 visitors in one day, it is clear that it would not have been fun to show this,” she added.

Work is underway in Alta to clear the roads of snow so the equipment needed to investigate the problem can be transported to the site.

The municipality will then clear up the affected areas.

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