How an army of 'citizen scientists' is helping save our most elusive animals

Images of otters, pygmy shrews and owls by amateur conservationist may help turn ex-colliery into nature reserveRoland Ascroft's first attempt to become a citizen scientist was nearly his last. The 63-year-old conservationist volunteered to take part in a wildlife monitoring project in 2015 and began by placing a camera trap in the woods opposite his house at New Brancepeth, near Durham. For three weeks he checked every day to see if the device had been triggered by animals moving in front of it, but found nothing had set it off."I was about to give up when I moved my camera trap for one last attempt - and found next morning that I had photographed a roe deer in the early morning," says Ascroft. "I was hooked." Continue reading...