Results of processing camera data from the Manul Working Group 🤓
Dear manulovers, the Manul Working Group has published a report on the first results of processing data from the camera network installed in Central Kazakhstan, some of which have been “adopted” by us and you — the subscribers of Manulization, as well as other manulovers.
The network now consists of 57 cameras, of which 35 camera were installed under the “Adopt a Camera” program, and that is more than half of all the cameras!👏🏻
In total, the cameras took 332,220 photos, operating for a combined 15,136 days, despite the winter cold, wind, and summer heat of the Kazakh Uplands! This incredible mass of data was helped through by 16 volunteers, who now professionally play the game “find the manul”😄
So what did the scientists see in the photos?
This season, 152 manuls appeared in the cameras’ lenses, and some of them did so several times (for a total of 160 passes in front of the cameras).
Twice, the cameras managed to capture a female with kittens! In total, 28 cameras (almost half of the total number) managed to capture a manul — that is a very cool result!
What is notable is that the “adopted” cameras produced 60% of the manul photos!😻
In a word, the past year was very successful for manuls in Kazakhstan!
At what time of day were manuls most active?
Interestingly, the manul’s daytime activity differed in summer and winter.
In summer, manuls were more active at night, at dawn and dusk, whereas in winter manuls were more active during the day.
![A photograph of Otocolobus manul manul from Aktas-Kunkora [new] camera trap](https://cdn.manulization.com/images/B540BlMRPPnuk0pg_mw-3840.webp)
Since the cameras photograph all animals, by analyzing the photos one can see how the manul’s activity is related to the activity of its prey. And that is what was done:
The Kazakh pika turned out to be closely associated with the presence of the manul, indicating a pronounced predator–prey relationship.
![A photograph of Otocolobus manul manul from Karashoky [new] camera trap](https://cdn.manulization.com/images/TiPus6SxZW7eOc4s_mw-3840.webp)
Manul neighbors
Who lives near the manul in Central Kazakhstan? Over the past season, the cameras also captured 13 species of predators — lynx, steppe cat, badger, ermine, and others. Foxes appeared especially often on camera.
But it is not only predators that live alongside the manul. In addition to small rodents, the cameras also frequently recorded argali, rabbits, and countless birds!
Plans for the future
The camera network in Central Kazakhstan will continue to develop and expand. It will be used for long-term monitoring of animal populations in this region.
We very much hope that the 2025–2026 season will be no less successful for the little manuls, and that together with you we will once again be delighted by their photos! 🙌🏻
You can view photos from all the cameras “adopted” by us and you in the “Cameras” section on the Manulization website.
The full report can be downloaded here:
P.S. On one of the cameras we saw something interesting (perhaps geological) — it is easier to notice when viewed on a computer. What do you think it is?
Comments 9
How interesting, thank you so much for such a detailed breakdown of the results! Wishing the very best manul things to all the little manuls of Kazakhstan! 🤗🙏
Alexandra Titova, We’re glad you liked it! We hope this summer will bring even more photos, videos, and scientific results 😻
The geological phenomenon looks exactly like parallax. Is the camera securely mounted?
Yes, judging by the peak in the background, the camera shifted.
Someday I would love to see manul camera traps in places like Iran to look for orange manuls!
Pavel Burov, We thought about the camera shifting too at first, but look at how the stones on the ground moved. They didn’t all move the same distance, and some even changed their angle... And besides, the shift would have to be strictly vertical and quite substantial in height. It’s unlikely the camera could have moved like that and still remained firmly mounted enough to keep working for the rest of the year...
Sugary Shampoo, Hm... we need to get in touch with scientists from Iran and ask them if they wanna share some trail-cameras footage in the website I think :)
Manulizationverified_filled ,
That would be super cool! 🔥
Wow, thanks for the report! Prrrrrrr!
One problem, these eyes must be getting too old for this - no matter how long I look at them those last two pictures look identical. What part of the view changes?