Human-animal interactions: Camera traps as research agents

Abstract

This article explores the use of camera traps as novel research agents in studying human-animal interactions and animal behaviour. Drawing on case studies from ecological research in India and ritual practices in Thailand, the authors examine how camera traps transform methodologies across the natural and social sciences and ask what these technologies reveal about animal responses to human presence and the cognitive underpinnings of their behaviours. Using Actor-Network-Theory frameworks and more-than-human philosophy, the authors argue that camera traps are not passive recording devices but active participants that shape the multispecies realities they observe. The case studies illustrate how animals learn to recognize and respond to camera traps, demonstrating situational awareness, evaluative cognition and adaptive learning. The authors advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to studying human-animal interactions that accounts for the agentive capacities of both humans and nonhumans, including technological agents like camera traps. This article contributes to ongoing discussions in ethology, anthropology and cognitive science about the use of remote imaging in field research and the conceptual and ethical implications of technological interventions in more-than-human lifeworlds.