A new iPhone application launched last night aims to enlist the help of the public in monitoring some of the most remote wildlife on the planet. Mobile phone users will be able to look for rare animals in their natural habitat, at any time of the day.

The Zoological Society of London, which has created the Instant WILD app, believes the system could revolutionise the way scientists track endangered species.

The app works by accessing motion-sensitive cameras that have been placed in clearings, watering holes and plains in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Mongolia. When an animal triggers the camera, the picture is sent to the app.

iPhone users can study the photographs and help ZSL to classify them. Jonathan Baillie, conservation director of ZSL, said it would usually take scientists days to go through the mass of pictures that are expected to be generated by the cameras.