Wildlife webcam
The webcam has pan, zoom and tilt capabilities. It operates on an automated patrol sequence. Webcam administrators can also go in and manually remote control the camera. It operates using cell phone and satellite communications powered by solar panels.
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New Interpretive site
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Path of the Pronghorn Interpretive Site will be at 5:30PM on Wednesday, April 13th.
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Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass webcam offers live views of migrating pronghorn
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
April 10, 2016
Pinedale Online is excited and pleased to become the new manager of the Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass webcam located on the wildlife crossing bridge across US 191 between Pinedale and Daniel, Wyoming.
Each year, thousands of pronghorn and deer move up and down the Upper Green River Valley following the melting snow and spring green-up in the spring and moving south when snow begins in the late fall. The spring migration has been in full swing for several weeks now. Pinedale Online has launched a new website so the public can see live views from the webcam to watch the wildlife. The new website is www.trapperspoint.com.
Of the tens of thousands of pronghorn that range in the Green River Valley and thousands that pass through Trapper’s Point, researchers have documented that approximately 300 pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) go as far north as Grand Teton National Park in the summer months. Thanks in large part to efforts by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the pathway they use moving north from Trapper’s Point is now being called the "Path of the Pronghorn."
The Trapper’s Point wildlife overpass was built as part of a $9.7 million project by the Wyoming Department of Transportation to install six wildlife underpasses and two wildlife overpasses along a twelve mile section of highway between Pinedale to about five miles north of the Daniel Junction along U.S. 191. The purpose was to help migrating wildlife get safely across the highway and increase safety for travelers on U.S. 191. Prior to the over and underpass structures being built, many animals were struck and killed each year by vehicles between Pinedale and Bondurant while trying to cross the highway.
The Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass camera has pan, zoom and tilt capability. The camera records video and takes still photos throughout the day. Camera administrators can also log in and manually control the camera view. Administrators include Pinedale Online, wildlife biologists with WCS, and others who use the webcam as a tool to monitor pronghorn and deer movement patterns throughout the year for research purposes. Pinedale Online took over as the website administrators as of April 1, 2016.
The Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass webcam was part of the Path of the Pronghorn project by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). As of April, 2016, WCS wrapped up their Interpretive Site project and the grant funding which allowed them to install and maintain this camera for two-years of operation, and to build the Path of the Pronghorn Interpretive Site one mile to the east on U.S. 191 at a pull-out along Duck Creek.
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the WCS Wildlife Crossing Structures Interpretive Site will be held on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 5:30PM at the Wyoming Wildlife pullout, approximately 1 mile east of the overpass bridge on U.S. 191. The new interpretive site on U.S. 191 has information about the Path of the Pronghorn migration corridor and offers an accessible, fixed binocular to view the Trapper’s Point wildlife overpass from a distance that does not disturb migrating animals.
"The installation of the web camera on Trapper’s Point wildlife overpass, which was completed in 2012, celebrates a new era of reduced risk from wildlife-vehicle collisions in the area, and the culmination of years of cooperation among conservationists, government officials, land and transportation planners, and others. The Wildlife Conservation Society is delighted to transfer the administration of the web camera to Pinedale Online to boost the educational and research capacity of this valuable addition to conservation," said Renee Seidler, Associate Conservationist, North America Program, Wildlife Conservation Society.
Check out the new website for the Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass at www.trapperspoint.com and watch for the announcement from the Wildlife Conservation Society with more details about the upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday for the new Path of the Pronghorn Interpretive Site.
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