Explore.org Scraper - Wildlife Cam Streams, GPS & Weather

Scrape Explore.org wildlife cameras. The camera's own YouTube stream URL, exact GPS coordinates from the page map, and current weather at the camera.

What does this Actor return?

Every field below was checked against live Explore.org pages on 2026-08-21.

• The camera's own YouTube stream URL, as a durable watch link
• Exact GPS coordinates, read from the camera's map embed -- these cameras are in national parks and on remote coastlines, so the position matters
• Current weather at those coordinates: temperature, feels-like, conditions, wind, humidity, UV index
• Timezone, elevation, sunrise and sunset -- the daylight window at a remote camera is often the point
• Auto-tagging (wildlife, marine, mountain, weather, landmark)

What this Actor does not return

No snapshot. Explore.org's API publishes a snapshot URL per camera on snapshots.explore.org. That hostname is a CNAME to a CloudFront distribution with no address records: it resolves to nothing, from any resolver. The other images they publish are promotional stills from 2018. snapshot.state is "none" rather than a link to either.

Picking the right stream took care. An Explore.org camera page carries several YouTube embeds -- the camera, plus promos and highlight reels -- and the page's own JSON payload lists a shared "currently live" carousel ahead of its own record. Both of the obvious sources return another camera's stream: the first iframe on the Brooks Falls page is a promo, and the first entry in the payload is the Brooks Falls bear cam on every page, including the African watering hole. This Actor takes the first embed the player actually requests, which is the camera's own.

Why scrape Explore.org?

Explore.org operates the world's largest network of nature and wildlife live cameras, powered by YouTube streams. Scraping it enables wildlife monitoring dashboards, conservation research tools, nature education apps, and automated animal activity detection.

How to use

1. Create a free Apify account at apify.com if you don't have one.
2. Open this Actor in the Apify Console and click "Start".
3. Add camera URLs from Explore.org to the Start URLs field.
4. Click Run and wait for the Actor to finish processing.
5. Download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Output tab.

Input example

{
    "startUrls": [
        { "url": "https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls" },
        { "url": "https://explore.org/livecams/african-wildlife/african-watering-hole-animal-camera" }
    ]
}

Output example

A record from an actual run, not an illustration:

{
    "visionSyncId": "VS-EXP-brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls",
    "url": "https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls",
    "title": "Brooks Falls Brown Bears",
    "description": "Watch Brown Bear Salmon Cam Brooks Falls live cam at Brown Bears on Explore.org.",
    "stream": {
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZrIDvqlic",
        "type": "youtube",
        "isLive": true,
        "lastVerified": "2026-08-21T18:27:36.618Z",
        "state": "verified"
    },
    "snapshot": {
        "state": "none"
    },
    "tags": [
        "wildlife"
    ],
    "enrichment": {
        "location": {
            "country": "United States",
            "countryCode": "US",
            "lat": 58.554852,
            "lon": -155.791862,
            "coordsSource": "map-embed"
        },
        "weather": {
            "temp": "10.4°C",
            "feelsLike": "8°C",
            "condition": "Overcast",
            "wind": "13.6 km/h",
            "humidity": "89%",
            "uvIndex": 0.2
        },
        "timezone": "America/Anchorage",
        "elevation": 19,
        "sunrise": "2026-08-21T06:58",
        "sunset": "2026-08-21T21:53"
    },
    "provider": "explore-org",
    "timestamp": "2026-08-21T18:27:36.618Z"
}

Filter live cameras only

Set filterLiveOnly: true to skip offline cameras -- useful for scheduled monitoring runs.

{
    "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://explore.org/livecams/african-river-wildlife/missouri-river-cam" }],
    "filterLiveOnly": true
}

How much will it cost?

This Actor uses Pay-Per-Event pricing: $0.002 per result until 2026-09-04, $0.01 after.

Volume	Until 2026-09-04	From 2026-09-04
100 results	$0.20	$1.00
1,000 results	$2.00	$10.00
10,000 results	$20.00	$100.00

You are only charged for a result that carries a verified asset. A camera whose stream returns 404, or whose only still image has not been rewritten in weeks, is reported in the log and skipped rather than billed. Titles and descriptions on their own are never charged for.

Programmatic access (API)

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("rqiby2xE1Eb1oTVcS").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": [{"url": "https://explore.org/livecams/african-river-wildlife/missouri-river-cam"}]
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["title"], item.get("tags"), item["enrichment"]["weather"]["temp"])

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('rqiby2xE1Eb1oTVcS').call({
    startUrls: [{ url: 'https://explore.org/livecams/african-river-wildlife/missouri-river-cam' }],
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach(item => console.log(item.title, item.tags, item.enrichment?.weather?.temp));

Schedule for monitoring

Build a time series of camera liveness and weather by scheduling this Actor:

{
    "actId": "rqiby2xE1Eb1oTVcS",
    "cronExpression": "0 */6 * * *",
    "input": {
        "startUrls": [{"url": "https://explore.org/livecams/african-river-wildlife/missouri-river-cam"}],
        "filterLiveOnly": true,
        "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 20
    }
}

Tips

• Use filterLiveOnly for scheduled runs to skip offline cameras and save costs.
• Use the tags field to filter results by category (beach, city, mountain, etc.).
• Pass a listing page URL to auto-discover all cameras on that page.
• Schedule runs every 6 hours to track weather changes at camera locations.

Is it legal to scrape Explore.org?

This Actor extracts publicly available data from Explore.org camera pages. Web scraping of publicly accessible information is generally permitted under applicable law. Always review the target site's Terms of Service and applicable regulations (including GDPR for EU data) before use. This Actor does not bypass authentication, paywalls, or CAPTCHAs. Use responsibly and respect rate limits.

Part of VisionSync Suite

Search all 12 providers at once with VisionSync Hub -- just type a location.

Provider	Link
EarthCam	Open in Store
SkylineWebcams	Open in Store
Webcamtaxi	Open in Store
Windy	Open in Store
WhatsUpCams	Open in Store
YouTube Live	Open in Store
Worldcam	Open in Store
Webcamera24	Open in Store
IPLiveCams	Open in Store
GeoCam	Open in Store
OpenWebcamDB	Open in Store