The Best Trail Camera Photos of 2024
From an uncontacted tribe living deep in the Amazon rainforest to an animal previously believed to be extinct, trail cameras have captured some incredible images in 2024.
Trail cameras, also known as remote cameras, first became popular in the 1980s. Since then, the camera technology has been offering humans an unprecedented glimpse into the hidden world of nature.
These are PetaPixel’s picks of the best trail camera photos of the last year.
An Elusive ‘Fisher’ Seen Centuries After Going Extinct
A trail camera, set up by PixCams, captured rare photographs of the elusive “fisher” in Pennsylvania — centuries after the species went extinct in the state.
Fishers were completely eliminated from Pennsylvania during unregulated hunting and intense deforestation in the late 1800s. However, in the mid-1990s, nearly 200 fishers were reintroduced to six sites in northern Pennsylvania and the population has been slowly growing.
Fishers — which are omnivorous members of the weasel family — are one of the few animals capable of killing and eating porcupines.
An Uncontacted Tribe in the Amazon Rainforest
Incredible photos, that were taken on remote cameras set up inside Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, revealed an uncontacted tribe living in complete isolation.
The fascinating images show the never-before-seen indigenous community, known as the Massaco tribe, thriving despite threats from mining and logging companies this year.
The photographs were taken by trail cameras placed in the rainforest by Altair Algayer, a government agent with the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai).
Algayer has reportedly spent more than three decades protecting the Massaco territory. He placed the cameras in the rainforest in an attempt to better quantify the tribe’s population without risking contact.
The remote camera images show that the Massaco tribe has a population of around 200 to 300 people.
Massive ‘Thicc Boi’ Black Bear
A black bear so large that he was described by a wildlife agency as a “thicc boi” was captured on a trail camera in Colorado.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife filmed the hilarious footage and were stunned by how big the bear had gotten before hibernation.
“We thought we had seen really fat Durango bears before. But this one takes the cake,” writes the wildlife agency. “It also probably ate the cake. Every cake.”
In the winter months, bears are in an arms race to fatten up — a process called hyperphagia. During hyperphagia, bears experience an intense drive to eat and drink almost continuously to prepare for the long, foodless months of hibernation.
In this period of intense feeding, bears can consume tens of thousands of calories per day.
An Epic Fight Between Eagles and Coyote
Photos of an epic fight between two golden eagles and a coyote over a deer carcass captured on a trail cam went viral in 2024.
The stunning showdown was filmed over the course of 30 minutes in Utah’s West Desert — with social media users comparing the vivid images to a Renaissance painting.
The photos were captured on a Reconyx trail camera which appears to be running an HDR effect meaning that it captures details in the shadows and highlights of the image.
These trail camera images were taken by HawkWatch International, a raptor conservation charity, back in 2022 but were previously unknown until they were shared online by the Nature is Metal Instagram page this year.
A Missing Dog Spotted a Year After Avalanche
A missing dog was seen alive on a trail camera in the Colorado backcountry after nearly a year of searching for the animal after it was lost in an avalanche.
Jacob Dalbey’s lost dog Ullr was seen in two trail camera photos captured on February 17 and 18.
Ullr was initially lost in the wilderness near Marble, Colorado, on March 17, 2023, when Dalbey, Ullr, and Dalbey’s friends traveled over an unstable snowpack. The snow cracked, and the group was caught in an avalanche near Chair Mountain. Ullr escaped the avalanche, although he got separated and has been lost since.
Dalbey set up trail cameras and left food in various places in the hopes of finding Ullr. And 11 months later, Dalbey finally captured images of his beloved pet.
“Please, everyone take a moment to tell him what a good job he is doing out there, and that, whenever he chooses, we’re all ready to help him come to safety,” Dalbey writes of the trail camera images of Ullr.
A Rarely-Seen Lynx ‘Poses’ Majestically for Trail Camera
A rarely-seen Canada Lynx was filmed majestically striking a pose in incredible trail camera footage.
The images were captured by the Voyageurs Wolf Project in the woodlands of Kabetogama Peninsula in Voyageurs National Park, northern Minnesota — where Canada lynx roam in small numbers.
Biologist Tom Gable, lead of the Voyageurs Wolf Project, discovered the extraordinary footage while reviewing thousands of hours of recordings of one of 350 trail cameras that his team sets up.
The footage was captured on the morning of April 11 — offering a remarkable glimpse of an elusive animal.
While the Voyageurs Wolf Project has filmed lynx on its trail cameras before, Gable says that most of the trail cameras that have filmed lynx only catch them at night or at a distance — never in the daylight and never so close.
Image credits: Header photo via (from left to right) Voyageurs Wolf Project and HawkWatch International
