Smithsonian Wild is a new Smithsonian website that houses more than 200,000 images of animals in the wild. The pictures on the site were captured using camera traps. Camera traps are cameras, both still image and video, that are attached to a tree or otherwise positioned in a natural habitat. When an animal approaches the camera an infrared sensor triggers the camera to start capturing images and videos. Smithsonian Wild is the result of camera traps around the world. Learn more about camera traps in the video below.

The images and videos in the Smithsonian Wild galleries are of varying quality because of the variances in camera quality and lighting conditions at the camera traps. That said, these galleries are great for showing animals in their natural habitats without knowledge of human presence.

H/T to Open Culture.