Adam F. Smith 🇺🇦🇮🇪
@adamfsmith.bsky.social
PhD Nature Conservation / Wildlife biologist 🐺🦌 working in EU and Ukraine 🇺🇦🇪🇺 / Sometimes volunteer 🇺🇦 / Irish 🇮🇪 / All thoughts personal, not professional
I'm terrible at updating you all on conservation and ecology work, but I can promise you this:
It is the biggest year for Irish camera trapping since records began, and it's not even close.
Why is this important? With this data, we can guide management and learn more about Irish nature.
It is the biggest year for Irish camera trapping since records began, and it's not even close.
Why is this important? With this data, we can guide management and learn more about Irish nature.
August 20, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I'm terrible at updating you all on conservation and ecology work, but I can promise you this:
It is the biggest year for Irish camera trapping since records began, and it's not even close.
Why is this important? With this data, we can guide management and learn more about Irish nature.
It is the biggest year for Irish camera trapping since records began, and it's not even close.
Why is this important? With this data, we can guide management and learn more about Irish nature.
Despite concerted efforts in Ireland to prevent harmful deer-feeding by the public in city and national parks, this kind of content is rampant in Facebook groups and cheered on by people blind to the potential harm being done...
doi.org/10.1111/csp2...
doi.org/10.1111/csp2...
July 29, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Despite concerted efforts in Ireland to prevent harmful deer-feeding by the public in city and national parks, this kind of content is rampant in Facebook groups and cheered on by people blind to the potential harm being done...
doi.org/10.1111/csp2...
doi.org/10.1111/csp2...
But with the same issues in the meadows the deer basically never use, which makes it actually quite interesting. Photo here of an oak from the central woods beside the main doe herd. Not sure it'll last but it has a chance, and wasn't the only one! 11th June 2025
July 26, 2025 at 9:31 AM
But with the same issues in the meadows the deer basically never use, which makes it actually quite interesting. Photo here of an oak from the central woods beside the main doe herd. Not sure it'll last but it has a chance, and wasn't the only one! 11th June 2025
In the abandoned city of Pripyat, in the Ukrainian Chornobyl Exclusion Zone 🇺🇦
A number of beautiful murals of wildlife.
A number of beautiful murals of wildlife.
July 12, 2025 at 4:55 AM
In the abandoned city of Pripyat, in the Ukrainian Chornobyl Exclusion Zone 🇺🇦
A number of beautiful murals of wildlife.
A number of beautiful murals of wildlife.
After a couple of years, I'm happy to be back in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone for wildlife monitoring in one of Europe's most unique places!
I'm even happier about just being in Ukraine 🇺🇦
I'm even happier about just being in Ukraine 🇺🇦
July 10, 2025 at 4:31 AM
After a couple of years, I'm happy to be back in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone for wildlife monitoring in one of Europe's most unique places!
I'm even happier about just being in Ukraine 🇺🇦
I'm even happier about just being in Ukraine 🇺🇦
Plenty of deer calves up and moving about at the moment.
📍 Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
📍 Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
June 23, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Plenty of deer calves up and moving about at the moment.
📍 Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
📍 Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
Ancient Carpathian beech forest?
No, a small corner of county Wicklow, Ireland 🇮🇪🌳
No, a small corner of county Wicklow, Ireland 🇮🇪🌳
June 14, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Ancient Carpathian beech forest?
No, a small corner of county Wicklow, Ireland 🇮🇪🌳
No, a small corner of county Wicklow, Ireland 🇮🇪🌳
MEGA paper led by my colleague Joe Premier of @wild-ecol-cons.bsky.social, in collaboration with the Lifescape Project.
"Exploring the ecological feasibility of restoring Eurasian lynx to Great Britain using spatially explicit individual-based modelling"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Exploring the ecological feasibility of restoring Eurasian lynx to Great Britain using spatially explicit individual-based modelling"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
June 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
MEGA paper led by my colleague Joe Premier of @wild-ecol-cons.bsky.social, in collaboration with the Lifescape Project.
"Exploring the ecological feasibility of restoring Eurasian lynx to Great Britain using spatially explicit individual-based modelling"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Exploring the ecological feasibility of restoring Eurasian lynx to Great Britain using spatially explicit individual-based modelling"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
One of those "it's not so bad" days...
March 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
One of those "it's not so bad" days...
Don't just vote for your interests or make your world a better place for just you.
Make the world a better place for the people who need it most.
#InternationalWomensDay
Make the world a better place for the people who need it most.
#InternationalWomensDay
March 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Don't just vote for your interests or make your world a better place for just you.
Make the world a better place for the people who need it most.
#InternationalWomensDay
Make the world a better place for the people who need it most.
#InternationalWomensDay
Dublin was blue and yellow today, and the sun shone down on us!
Ukraine still stands, and we still #StandWithUkraine 🇮🇪🫂🇺🇦
Ukraine still stands, and we still #StandWithUkraine 🇮🇪🫂🇺🇦
February 23, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Dublin was blue and yellow today, and the sun shone down on us!
Ukraine still stands, and we still #StandWithUkraine 🇮🇪🫂🇺🇦
Ukraine still stands, and we still #StandWithUkraine 🇮🇪🫂🇺🇦
Maybe using Germany was an unfair example, obviously the wolf distribution is still not covering all areas. In Italy, the wolf is nearly distributed across the whole country (see photo).
Have Italy stopped hunting deer or boar, and "fixed" their herbivore problems?
Have Italy stopped hunting deer or boar, and "fixed" their herbivore problems?
February 15, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Maybe using Germany was an unfair example, obviously the wolf distribution is still not covering all areas. In Italy, the wolf is nearly distributed across the whole country (see photo).
Have Italy stopped hunting deer or boar, and "fixed" their herbivore problems?
Have Italy stopped hunting deer or boar, and "fixed" their herbivore problems?
So with this news, we can expect that herbivore populations must balancing and hunting has stopped?
Let's take Germany.
Here is the current wolf distribution (see photo 1).
In that part of Germany, there is a large population of boar too (see photo 2) - great!
Let's take Germany.
Here is the current wolf distribution (see photo 1).
In that part of Germany, there is a large population of boar too (see photo 2) - great!
February 15, 2025 at 11:51 PM
So with this news, we can expect that herbivore populations must balancing and hunting has stopped?
Let's take Germany.
Here is the current wolf distribution (see photo 1).
In that part of Germany, there is a large population of boar too (see photo 2) - great!
Let's take Germany.
Here is the current wolf distribution (see photo 1).
In that part of Germany, there is a large population of boar too (see photo 2) - great!
Wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a camera trap picture and a shitty caption ❤️
February 14, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a camera trap picture and a shitty caption ❤️
Something also to consider for Meath, Kildare, Carlow, Wexford - the fabled forests of Leinster the Normans recalled have all but vanished, yet the land is still highly suitable. Shows the strength of competitive land uses well I guess
February 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Something also to consider for Meath, Kildare, Carlow, Wexford - the fabled forests of Leinster the Normans recalled have all but vanished, yet the land is still highly suitable. Shows the strength of competitive land uses well I guess
First in-person #SixNationsRugby game in 5 years!!!
It was not a boring game of rugby by any means, my voice is gone after it
It was not a boring game of rugby by any means, my voice is gone after it
February 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
First in-person #SixNationsRugby game in 5 years!!!
It was not a boring game of rugby by any means, my voice is gone after it
It was not a boring game of rugby by any means, my voice is gone after it
I will jump on @kfmradio.bsky.social just after 10:30 Irish time to chat about our #SnapshotEurope camera traps from last year and some of the initial wildlife observations!
kfmradio.com/player/
kfmradio.com/player/
January 31, 2025 at 10:16 AM
I will jump on @kfmradio.bsky.social just after 10:30 Irish time to chat about our #SnapshotEurope camera traps from last year and some of the initial wildlife observations!
kfmradio.com/player/
kfmradio.com/player/
Ireland's invasive species interacting with one another?
Invasive American mink predating what looks to be an invasive greater white-toothed shrew on the banks of the River Liffey in North Kildare.
Invasive American mink predating what looks to be an invasive greater white-toothed shrew on the banks of the River Liffey in North Kildare.
January 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Ireland's invasive species interacting with one another?
Invasive American mink predating what looks to be an invasive greater white-toothed shrew on the banks of the River Liffey in North Kildare.
Invasive American mink predating what looks to be an invasive greater white-toothed shrew on the banks of the River Liffey in North Kildare.
January 25, 2025 at 1:37 PM
🎵 "Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are frozen" 🎵
January 9, 2025 at 10:46 AM
🎵 "Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are frozen" 🎵
Finally starting deer surveys in Kildare 🇮🇪🤍
Luckily all was finished before the snow surprised us!
Luckily all was finished before the snow surprised us!
January 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Finally starting deer surveys in Kildare 🇮🇪🤍
Luckily all was finished before the snow surprised us!
Luckily all was finished before the snow surprised us!
The quality of search engines is crap for wildlife information needed by the public, impaired by poor optimisation and image recognition.
Here, every fallow deer picture is incorrectly labelled, despite the actual Woodland Trust web pages for red and fallow deer being correct...
Here, every fallow deer picture is incorrectly labelled, despite the actual Woodland Trust web pages for red and fallow deer being correct...
January 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The quality of search engines is crap for wildlife information needed by the public, impaired by poor optimisation and image recognition.
Here, every fallow deer picture is incorrectly labelled, despite the actual Woodland Trust web pages for red and fallow deer being correct...
Here, every fallow deer picture is incorrectly labelled, despite the actual Woodland Trust web pages for red and fallow deer being correct...
I started this work as a side-project and grew it with colleagues into an important and useful data source for wildlife management and conservation.
If you also see its importance, please share and talk about this project, get in contact, and support science-based wildlife work in Ireland! ☘️💪
If you also see its importance, please share and talk about this project, get in contact, and support science-based wildlife work in Ireland! ☘️💪
December 19, 2024 at 8:24 PM
I started this work as a side-project and grew it with colleagues into an important and useful data source for wildlife management and conservation.
If you also see its importance, please share and talk about this project, get in contact, and support science-based wildlife work in Ireland! ☘️💪
If you also see its importance, please share and talk about this project, get in contact, and support science-based wildlife work in Ireland! ☘️💪
Finally, a shout out to the birds!
Our most common birds are thrushes, followed by a lot of Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) and woodpigeon (Columba palumbus).
And sometimes, surprising observations - woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) or greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major).
Our most common birds are thrushes, followed by a lot of Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) and woodpigeon (Columba palumbus).
And sometimes, surprising observations - woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) or greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major).
December 19, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Finally, a shout out to the birds!
Our most common birds are thrushes, followed by a lot of Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) and woodpigeon (Columba palumbus).
And sometimes, surprising observations - woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) or greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major).
Our most common birds are thrushes, followed by a lot of Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) and woodpigeon (Columba palumbus).
And sometimes, surprising observations - woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) or greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major).
Some other mammal highlights include: the Irish hare subspecies (Lepus timidus hibernicus), badger (Meles meles), and singular and new observations of two mustelids: the Irish stoat subspecies (Mustela erminea hibernica) and the invasive American mink (Neogale vison).
December 19, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Some other mammal highlights include: the Irish hare subspecies (Lepus timidus hibernicus), badger (Meles meles), and singular and new observations of two mustelids: the Irish stoat subspecies (Mustela erminea hibernica) and the invasive American mink (Neogale vison).