Pixelated pathologies: Camera trapping as a tool for monitoring wildlife health

Abstract Camera trapping has become an effective non‐invasive tool for monitoring wildlife populations' diverse ecological and epidemiological aspects. However, its application in wildlife health surveillance remains underutilized. Expanding the use of camera traps (CTs) for disease detection could enhance real‐time monitoring and conservation efforts. We conducted a systematic review of published research to assess how camera trapping has been used to detect signs compatible with different pathologies in wild species, and we provide a complete list of potentially recognizable pathologies from CT data. We identified a total of 35 studies that employed CTs for health surveillance. The review found that 85.7% of the studies detected diseases, 14.3% reported injuries or traumas, 5.7% identified malformations and 2.9% identified stress markers. Sarcoptic mange was the most frequently recorded disease (83.3%), with commonly observed signs including alopecia (65.7%), hyperkeratosis (28.6%) and ulcerated skin (20%). Carnivores were the most studied taxonomic group, and while research efforts were distributed across almost all continents, they were more concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere (65.7%). Additionally, up to 51 health impairments that could potentially be recognized and monitored by CTs were identified. Key limitations in the use of CTs for wildlife health monitoring included potential pseudoreplication, risk of diagnostic errors due to misinterpretation of non‐pathological signs or poor image quality, difficulty in observing subtle or early‐stage signs, low detectability of certain individuals and/or pathologies, limited capacity to incorporate additional variables, and inability to address the directionality of disease transmission. Synthesis and applications . Given the increasing emergence of diseases, some with conservation and public health implications, improving and expanding wildlife health surveillance strategies is imperative. Camera trapping is particularly relevant for detecting new outbreaks, monitoring high‐risk zones and evaluating risk mitigation measures.