What We Do

1. Research & Restoration

• Monitor Keystone campus wildlife closely through infrared cameras and insect pitfall traps

  • Conducted two pitfall trap studies with a total of 11 sites and 6 covariates investigated in September 2022 and March 2023

  • Installed two cameras in March 2022 with a total of 510 trapping days o Identified three hedgehogs and eight feral cats individuals

  • Generated a first-year investigation report based on the data above

• Collaborate with other international schools and universities in Beijing. Currently, we partner with groups from Dehong International Chinese School, Western Academy Beijing, Daystar Academy, and Tsinghua University, and are actively expanding our network.

• Partner with Keystone Gardening Committee to propose restoring local vegetation at an on-campus experimental site.

2. Reconnection

• Organize a Wildlife Scavenger Hunt for all secondary school students, which is a one-week scavenger hunt game of 40+ local wildlife models we hide around campus, to raise awareness and knowledge of indigenous animals.

• Promote wildlife conservation through whole-school meeting presentations at Keystone using infrared camera footage.

• Engage 10+ students from grade 9 through the G9 Footprints Project initiative to install and manage Keystone’s infrared camera.

• Present findings on urban wildlife through infrared cameras at Keystone at the ACAMIS tech conference.

• Currently working on compiling animal profiles for the identified hedgehog and feral cat individuals, to be published in Keystone’s student-led media.

Infrared Camera Usage

Infrared cameras are triggered to capture footage when passively sensing infrared light emitted from warm-blooded mammals or birds as they pass by the PIR sensor.

Available models and instruction manuals:

• YiAnWS-Loreda: L710 (cost 1600 RMB)

  • http://www.yianws.com/nav58.html

• EREagle-E1B/C (cost 1200 RMB)

  • http://ereagle.com/ProductsImage/E1_Series_Quick_Start_Manual_en.pdf

• EREagle-E3H (cost 1350 RMB)

Camera setting:

• Cameras under the project should be all set to record for 20 seconds at a video definition of 1080P, without delay between consecutive triggers.

• If daytime human visitation is frequent at a particular site, set the camera to record only from 19:00 PM to 7:00 AM.

Collaboration mechanism:

In order to achieve our general aim to create more wildlife-friendly urban zones, we want to expand our coverage to other schools. By gathering more landscape-scale data, we hope to generate a better understanding of Beijing’s urban ecosystems.

To collaborate,

• We can either lend infrared cameras for you to use for one year (1-3 cameras, depending on our availability and your campus size) or provide the details of the infrared camera that your school can purchase.

• We will visit school campuses to collaborate on choosing suitable locations to install infrared cameras. Usually, members of Wildlife Neighbors will first show you the cameras at Keystone, then we will visit your campus to further locate suitable spots.

• We will create data-sharing networks between the schools to regularly upload the data received from the cameras

• We will host meetings frequently to analyze the data and strive to write research reports on our findings

• Together, we protect biodiversity!

​Please see Appendix I to see a Document of Agreement to be signed between collaborating schools; and Appendix II for the data recording and management procedure and notes.