“Nááááánts ingonyamááá…” I always loved the Lion King and that Circle of Life intro is probably the best start to a film ever, if you ask me. That line they keep singing means so much as ‘here comes a lion’, I’ve been told, and there are a few lions coming your way indeed. A couple of months ago, I beta-tested one of the newest Zooniverse projects and it’s now live; a ‘Zoo’ of wild animals called Snapshot Serengeti.
The name is self-explanatory really: scientists have put cameras on the Serengeti which took pictures of the animals minding their own businesses. But this is not just them showing off their safari holiday piccies. As a citizen scientist you’re asked to mark what sort of animals you see (yes you can do this!), so they can study the relationships between the species. Now as a Zooite I support all the Zooniverse projects, but as a biology teacher, I especially like this one.
And I’m not the only one. In fact, others over on our Galaxy Zoo forum have labelled it highly addictive too. It’s really a matter of wanting to spot ALL the species. I’m also saving way too many favourites on my account and I keep wanting to share the pictures with fellow enthusiast, or anyone really, and say ‘Oooooh look, I got a bunch of X!’
Sometimes a cam has been knocked over and you get a shot from a peculiar angle. I’ve had a picture of a human-animal fixing this. There are also pictures of grasses blowing in the wind, or flies triggering the camera. But even if there aren’t any animals to mark, the pictures are often beautiful sights. And even though us classifiers are not studying the ecosystem ourselves, it’s a great way of learning things about the area.
You’ll probably find that you’ll spot many zebras and wildebeests. Or birds interacting with buffalos. I also had a Thomson’s Gazelle so close to the camera I could only see its stripes and there was a group of zebras running away very fast. As you get a sequence of three pictures taken shortly after each other, you can see how the animals are moving too. (When you listen to the radio at the same time, this can be rather amusing).
So, looking at pretty snapshots, learning new things AND helping science. That’s a good Zooniverse project alright. Don’t worry if you feel you don’t have enough knowledge to recognise the animals. Like anyone can be an astronomer on Galaxy Zoo, they’ve made an easy interface for this too! I’ll leave you to try it now (and find Simba’s family for yourself), but here are a few of my favourites.
Heffalump!
This is a hartebeest (I think) with a herd in the back (and a beautiful sky!)
Well whatever it is, I’m definitely guessing male (don’t think the cams are intended for this though!)
Pumbaa! (And a giraffe in the back – mark ALL the species)
Cuddling (I mean, ‘interacting’) zebras and more wildebeests
Prettyful giraffe (1, moving).
A hyena (up to something?) in the middle of the night
Camera-shy human
Two leopards resting (awww)!
Look I got a big bird!
Grassy. With Pride Rock in the back, of course.
Oh-hi!
