Bioacoustic aspects make an important segment of this project as well as relations between animals and their acoustic surroundings on the micro-location of Risnjak National Park in Croatia. These recordings also make a significant contribution to assessment of biodiversity in this area, in relation to anthropogenic noise and sound pollution, making them valuable archival material for future generations.

The starting point for the project is in the existing photo and video traps designed to document animal movement, for example to track lynxes. Project team focusing on engineering and research has designed and built a custom ambisonic recording system as a sound trap.

In a special safety case resistant to rain, moisture and snow, the team has built in all the components of this sound trap:
– a high-quality second order spatial microphone (8 separate capsules/channels)
– Arduino (open-source electronic prototyping platform)
– Raspberry Pi computer
– infrared camera
– mobile internet system
– battery pack (52ah)

The electricity to power the device is generated by two solar panels (12v 10w) making the system autonomous for a longer period of time. The sound trap has been mounted in collaboration with a team from LIFE Lynx project that coordinated the set-up procedure on a specific, carefully chosen location in the wilderness of the Risnjak National Park (Croatia). Risnjak is home for all of the three species of large European predators: wolfs, bears and lynxes, the latter being also stated in the name of the Park (lynx in Croatian being Ris). A motion and sound sensors are the main triggers for starting a custom programmed software to record the sound tracks in the duration of 180 seconds.

After technological research, design development and production of the sound trap, the team has made a tour of several location, choosing the best one for the project purpose. In that location, the sound trap has been placed in July 2022. First test recording has resulted with these soundscapes registering animal activity and environmental sounds, and it also showed the possibility for its upgrade in order to receive a better quality of the recorded sounds. Next step is therefore to upgrade the dehumidifying systems of the sound trap for the next round of recording in September 2022. At that time of the year the activities in the wild habitats of Risnjak National Park will intensify, and the ambisonic trap will stay on the location to monitor and record the activity of lynxes and other predators during the entire autumn and winter.

From the collected soundscapes, Croatian multimedia artist Davor Sanvincenti will create a multichannel sound composition – a spatial sound installation and a performance. This soundwork will be performed in the woods, during night time, and presented in an exhibition space in Zagreb, Croatia in 2023.