Your Spots Count to Protect our Biodiversity.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - May 23, 2013 - PRLog -- What is Wildspots? Easy-to-use wildlife recording system.
Through Wildspots we hope to make a valuable contribution to the preserving and understanding of the biodiversity of our land - we want to turn as many people as possible into wildlife observers. Records are contributed to our national biodiversity databases to assist scientists and wildlife managers in their conservation efforts.

What is a Record?
A Record represents a wildlife sighting that has been captured on Wildspots.org - at its most basic it includes which animal was seen, the date it was seen as well as the position where the animal was seen.

In addition - the Record can include a specific time, field notes as well as a photo - A Map is used to plot the exact or general position where the animal was seen.

Start recording your wildlife sightings and let your rangers and guests document their encounters on unique personal and collaborative maps.

The new Android app allows you to Capture Wildlife sightings from your Android Phone or Tablet while out of internet and cellphone range. Your devise will store your records and publishes them to wildspots.org (http://wildspots.org/android) when you are in wifi or signal range. These basic records are available for editing, verification and adding field notes and images.

Wildspots contributors have recorded over 755 unique species of animal.

6481 Wildlife Records (2465 Photos) Spotted by 144 Contributors.  4051 Birds (469 Species)
1735 Mammals (105 Species)
401 Reptiles (86 Species)
174 Amphibians (32 Species)
62 Others (11 Species)
58 Insects (52 Species)  

Wildspots offers a number of simple tools to help you document & explore the Wildlife you see.

Timeline Map
Explore our wildlife Records on a map and adjust the time range of when these Records where seen - you can also adjust the map to only show the animals you are interested in. Explore Timeline Map (http://wildspots.org/home/timeline_map)
Records
Explore the most recent or all our wildlife Records. Filter the Records by species, type of animal(Mammal, Reptile etc), with or without a photo as well as adjust the time range. Recent (http://wildspots.org/home/recent_records)          Explore All Records (http://wildspots.org/record_explorer/explore)

Photos
Explore all our Photos or search Wikipedia link for Photos of animals you are interested in.
View Photos (http://wildspots.org/photos)

Animal Wiki
Our Animal Wiki is a database of animal species that contains basic information such as common names, scientific Name, , distribution map and Photos.
Vist the Wiki (http://wildspots.org/wiki/home)

Groups
Allows people with a shared wildlife interest to form a Group and contribute Records to the Group - much like a Facebook Group.
You can easily create your own Group or join an existing Group that you are interested in focusing on a specific area or wildlife category or species. All members will have access to collaborative records which you can keep private or share.
Explore Groups (http://wildspots.org/group/list)

Areas NEW!
Wildspots Areas allows you to explore areas around South Africa and get an insight about what Wildlife is being spotted there. This tool builds dynamic checklists for the area. Data is available in an excel format.
Explore Areas (http://wildspots.org/geographic_area/list)

WILDSPOTS FOR YOU

Let’s all collaborate and enjoy our wildlife legacy.
Wildspots is free for everyone’s unlimited use. It will soon become a major educational tool as we team up with eco networks and field guide training faculties. Let’s take an audit of our wildlife heritage, noting the existence of species and affording them the recognition and protection they deserve.

We invite sponsors and partners to assist us with growing this initiative from the grassroots upwards.

Wildspots Team

www.wildspots.org