Environment Minister Rob Stokes said 2014 was first year the annual WildCount program was using photo analysis, and it is already revealing some fascinating insights into the private lives of the animals that live in our national parks.

“WildCount is an important fauna monitoring program that uses digital cameras to capture images of animals that pass by on their daily business,” Mr Stokes said.

“It also provides credible scientific evidence to park managers and biologists in the natural world about what is happening to common native species in NSW parks.

“While the aim of the program is to detect changes in the environment, it also picks up interesting and valuable insights on what is happening in our parks and reserves. 

“We have already captured thousands of frames and found some strange and fascinating pictures.”

The 270,000 photos collected from across the state this year included two red-necked wallabies fighting in Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve (west of Uralla); a wombat meeting a spider in Kosciuszko National Park; and a curious wedge-tailed eagle in Capoompeta National Park.

“WildCount captures thousands of interesting images which capture rare sightings of species we didn’t know were present in many parks.

“It allows scientists to detect if there is a change in a species’ occurrence over a 10 year period and use this information to track trends in species distributions.”

WildCount is conducted at 200 sites across NSW each year, including cameras on a small number of Conservation Agreement properties and on some Council land.

NPWS is also assisted by a number of community volunteers each year.

For more information on how to get involved or to view the images, visit http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/wildcount.htm.