SnapshotSafari vs Snapshot Serengeti: What’s Changing?

The original Snapshot Serengeti platform will be deactivated on February 1^st, 2018. There are still images left to classify, so please help us by finishing as many as you can before February 1.

With the launch of SnapshotSafari just eight days away, we would like to share a detailed explanation of the new interface and note a few significant changes. The participation of Snapshot Serengeti citizen scientists and moderators over the past seven years has provided researchers, conservationists, and computer scientists with invaluable information regarding wildlife populations, online classification systems, and citizen science platforms. We hope that you will continue to work with us on the new platform, so that we can continue to expand and improve our methodology.

Here is what you can expect to see on February 6, 2018:

Multiple sites: Moving Beyond the Serengeti

Figure 1. SnapshotSafari Parks & Reserves

As mentioned in a previous blog post introducing SnapshotSafari, Snapshot Serengeti will not be going away. Instead, it will become one of several camera trap sites that volunteers can select. The SnapshotSafari landing page will link to individual pages for each protected area and provide news and updates about the network overall and/or individual sites. The charming wood-panel background will be changed from time to time, showcasing interesting classified images or letting users know which sites need the most help.

When a user clicks on a site such as Snapshot Serengeti from the landing page, they will be taken to a page that resembles Figure 2.

Figure 2. SnapshotSafari interface.

For the initial launch, there will be six sites to choose from. These new camera trap grids are sending us images from Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa.  For the first few months, we will release additional sites every three weeks, so make sure to check in often to see if a new location has been added. To navigate between the sites, simply log on to SnapshotSafari and select the reserve you’d like to visit. To return to the home page and go into a different site, click the SnapshotSafari tab at the top of the page.

Classification – What’s different? 

Good news for those of you who have been with Snapshot Serengeti for years and are used to the classification system: as you can see in Figure 1, the interface will remain mostly the same.

Here’s how it works: A picture or series of up to three pictures will appear on the screen next to the species’ name list. When you click on a species name, a brief description and a few pictures will appear. If a volunteer isn’t sure of the name of the animal, there are a few tools they can use to help narrow down their choices. Citizen scientists can look at examples of tail shape, animal build, the color and pattern of skin/hide, and horn shape to identify the wildlife in each photograph. The “Looks-Like,” tab has changed slightly, providing silhouettes of animals (Figure 3) instead of descriptions.

Figure 3. “Looks-Like” Tab

Once a species is selected, users will still have the option to choose the number of individuals and record any behaviors. While the look has changed, the choices remain the same (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Number of Individuals and Behavioral Information

Have you ever wanted to zoom in on a picture to get a closer look at far away animals? Now you can! SnapshotSafari allows users to zoom in and out, click-and-drag the image, and rotate the image. Some of the new sites have new species, so you can expect to see a few new options on the list of potential species, such as nyala and klipspringer.

There will be several field guides available, providing users with clear images and detailed information about different groups of animals (e.g. deer, birds, predators, etc.).  These are always available for reference to help volunteers hone their classification skills and provide information on the most challenging species to identify or distinguish between. Some of these field guides utilized information and images collected on the Snapshot Serengeti discussion pages. A special thanks to those of you who helped collect related images and develop tutorials; know that your efforts have been recognized and contributed to the development of these field guides.

Volunteers still have the options to, “Collect,” and “Favorite” images. After identifying the wildlife in the photograph, one can choose between, “Done,” or “Done and Discuss.” Clicking on, “Done and Discuss,” will take them to the, “Talk” section of each site. More details on the discussion section is provided below.

There are still pictures that need to be classified at www.snapshotserengeti.org. We are hoping to finish these classifications before the launch of SnapshotSafari. If we don’t finish with the remaining images, they will be uploaded in batches to the new SnapshotSafari website in Snapshot Serengeti’s unique page.

Collections & Discussions

UPDATE: The Snapshot Serengeti website will no longer function after February 1st. When SnapshotSafari launches, the main www.snapshotserengeti.org site will be redirected to SnapshotSafari. The talk.snapshotserengeti.org site won’t be changing at all in the short term. In the long term its contents will be archived permanently, including  your collections and favorites.

Each site will have their own discussion forums under the associated Talk section. We are happy to announce that users will no longer be taken to a separate site or tab to participate in or read through the discussions; it is all available on the Zooniverse site! If you want to ask a question, start a discussion, or share a cool picture, you can do that by clicking the Talk tab. When you are ready to resume classifying, you just click on the Classify heading to return to the site’s photos.

Our moderators and a group of volunteers have gone through the discussion forums of Snapshot Serengeti, and they selected several discussion topics to transfer to SnapshotSafari. The majority of the Serengeti forums will not be transferred, but will remain on the old Serengeti site.

Where/When can I find out more? 

This Wednesday we will start a countdown for the official launch of SnapshotSafari, featuring detailed descriptions of the six new sites being featured in the initial launch. You can also post your questions in the Serengeti discussion forums until February 1st and follow us on social media for updates.

Social Media

Twitter: @UMNLionCenter, @SnapshotSafari, & @snapSerengeti

Facebook: Snapshot Serengeti, UMN Lion Center, SnapshotSafari

Instagram: umnlioncenter, snapshot_safari