Our Athens Urban Wildlife Project has been studying urban wildlife throughout Athens-Clarke County (ACC) since 2021. This ongoing project is made possible through a partnership between UGA, ACC Sustainability Office, numerous private landowners, and the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN), an international collaboration working to better understand the effects of urbanization on wildlife. Athens was the 35th city to join the network, which now includes >55 cities around the world all striving to build a global collective of urban wildlife data.
Since April 2021, the Athens Urban Wildlife Project has maintained 27-29 wildlife cameras across a west-to-east transect extending from Atlanta Highway to the ACC landfill. These cameras collect data on wildlife biodiversity using remotely triggered wildlife game cameras that are placed in areas expected to support wildlife based on the landscape composition of the area and positioned to increase wildlife detection (e.g., facing game trails, along corridors). The cameras are deployed for one month every 4 months (Jan., Apr., Jul., Oct.). Beginning in July 2024, we recently expanded our study (now 39 cameras) to include areas along the HWY 29 and HWY 129 corridors of ACC because these are the areas of targeted urbanization within the county as directed by the urban planning process. And beginning in April 2025, we will begin adding Audio Recording Units (ARUs) to these 39 sites thanks to a grant from the University of Georgia Sustainability Office. ARU’s record audible information (e.g., bird calls, frog calls, bat sonar frequencies) that are identified to species using artificial intelligence software. We will use this data to better understand urban wildlife biodiversity across a broader range of wildlife species here in Athens.
Kohl Wildlife Lab 