In 2022, ReWild Wicklow partnered with UCD Wildlife Department to expand Snapshot Europe in Wicklow, as they set up 20 cameras monitored at 37 sites, and which collected 93,670 photographs and captured nine wild mammal species and a variety of birds.
In 2023, they added an additional 12 camera traps and the project area expanded east to Devil’s Glen and south to Clara Vale.
Each year since ReWild Wicklow has added camera traps and have expanded the areas monitored, resulting in 50 cameras set up during 2025. Whatever the cameras find is shared and will also be uploaded to a Europe-wide wildlife monitoring dataset to help guide important decisions around conservation.
Danny Alvey of ReWild Wicklow said: “For the past number of years we have been setting up the camera traps in the hope of capturing images of some otters, but for years while we managed to capture plenty of good stuff, the otter still managed to elude us, until this year.
“We set up a number of cameras close to water around the Vartry Reservoir and Vale of Clara three years ago hoping we might catch an otter and three of those cameras have finally got one this year. We also got one at a new camera along the Vartry River in Ashford.
After waiting five-years to capture a photo of otters, ReWild Wicklow managed to capture four different images.
“It’s a wonderful coincidence and the otter is probably the largest animal we never managed to capture any images of. We also got a hedgehog for the first time ever in Altidore wood near Newtownmountkennedy. Hedgehogs are quite tricky to capture on the cameras because they are so small. I had to look at the image 10 times and then sent it on to Dr Alan Smith, who heads the project in Ireland, so he could confirm it was indeed a hedgehog.
“We also got some great shots of the rare Woodcock around the Vartry Reservoir as well. Otter and hedgehog are considered threatened elsewhere in Europe and the Woodcock is on the red list of conservation concern here in Ireland.”
Initially Dr Alan Smith was the volunteer-lead for Snapshot Europe in Ireland, but the project is now fully funded and has been expanded to other national parks located in the country.
Meanwhile, many of the images captured in Wicklow provide plenty of encouragement for the likes of red squirrels, whose numbers seem to be thriving in the Garden County compared to other locations.
“Red squirrel numbers are doing really well in Wicklow,” said Dany. “We are capturing more images of red squirrels than grey squirrels, while in Dublin it’s predominantly grey squirrels. The only cameras where we captured grey squirrels were at Altidore and Glen of the Downs, the remainder were all red squirrels.
“The pine marten also seems to be making a comeback judging by some of the images we captured, which is very encouraging. They are still rare animals to find but there numbers certainly seem to be recovering, which is great news.”