The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking participants to help identify images of eastern indigo snakes, listed as federally threatened, from a database of digital trail camera photos. This project, the Indigo Snake Watch, aims to improve understanding of the reintroduced snakes’ activity and distribution while providing volunteers an opportunity to contribute to the conservation of North America’s largest native snake species.
The Indigo Snake Watch is a new FWC volunteer program and participatory science project based in northwest Florida, hosted on the Zooniverse platform. There is no commitment required; users can classify as many or as few photos as they wish. This initiative follows the successful rollout of the Everglades Wildlife Watch earlier this year.
Organized by the FWC, the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, and The Nature Conservancy in Florida, this project uses camera traps to assess the success and distribution of reintroduced snakes at their release site—the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve.
“Everyone can help in the efforts to re-establish eastern indigo snake populations,” said Preserve Manager Catherine Ricketts. “Staff at the Preserve, which is part of TNC’s Center for Conservation Initiatives, are proud to have played a part in restoring this land, and now—after eight years of releasing the snakes at ABRP—we welcome the public to help track and monitor the snakes’ continued recovery.”
The FWC’s partners at The Nature Conservancy in Florida and the Central Florida Zoo are placing trail cameras throughout the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve. As these cameras collect photos, images will be uploaded to our Indigo Snake Watch Zooniverse project. Anyone can log on and help classify photos by following a link, creating a free account, and identifying wildlife from home.
If accuracy is a concern, consensus analysis ensures that individual identifications are combined with others for accurate understanding of indigo snake activity in these areas.
With volunteer assistance, more photos can be sorted than would be possible otherwise. Following photo identification and analyses, data will be sent to biologists across all involved organizations to inform conservation and reintroduction efforts for these snakes. Information and updates from the project will also be shared on its Zooniverse Results page.
The eastern indigo snake has been reintroduced to Florida’s panhandle after disappearing from the region decades ago. The FWC remains heavily involved in their reintroduction as well as conserving Florida’s biodiversity and wildlife habitats. To learn more about FWC’s work with threatened species conservation visit MyFWC.com/Imperiled.
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