Motion-activated camera trap images of wildlife from the Red Forest, Chornobyl, Ukraine, 2016-2017

Data comprise a catalogue of motion activated digital trap camera images obtained from cameras located in the Red Forest, Chornobyl (Ukraine) over a period of a year (September 2016 - September 2017); images are included. In total 45,859 images were captured; of these 19,393 contained identifiable species or organism types, 565 recorded people, 349 were of species that could not be determined and 25,552 images recorded nothing. In addition there were 687 images of members of the research team setting up and servicing the cameras. All images, with the exception of those that recorded people or camera setup/service, are included as part of the dataset.

Site characteristics and descriptions for each camera location are provided (e.g. site location, estimates of ambient dose rate, activity concentration of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in soil, Cs-137 and Sr-90 deposition, extent of fire damage, vegetation and forest cover and density and water proximity). The same person recorded all descriptive parameters. Information related to each cameras deployment is also provided; this includes camera deployment periods, number of days deployed and a summary of the images (e.g. number of images with mammals, birds or insects in, number of images with nothing in, number of images with people in) and the total number of triggering events recorded. Also provided are indicative weighted absorbed dose rates estimated using the ERICA Tool v2.0 https://erica-tool.com/ for a ‘large mammal’ and ‘red fox’.

Species definitively captured on the motion activated digital trap cameras were:Brown hare, Eurasian elk, Eurasian lynx, European badger, Domesticated dog (feral), Grey wolf, Przewalski's horse, Raccoon dog, Red deer, Red fox, Red squirrel, Roe deer, Wild boar, Black grouse, Common blackbird, Common buzzard, Common wood pigeon, Eurasian bittern, Eurasian hoopoe, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian sparrowhawk, Eurasian woodcock, European nightjar, European robin, Fieldfare, Great egret, Great grey shrike, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Hazel grouse, Mistle thrush, Red backed shrike and Song thrush. Others identified to genus level include:Marten sp., Finch sp., Shrike sp., Thrush sp. There were also some mammal and bird species which were unidentifiable.

Site descriptions, camera information, a summary of the contents of the image catalogue, summaries of mammals and birds by setup, site and camera and all the trap camera images have been provided as part of this dataset.