{"slug": "inaturalist", "name": "iNaturalist", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "Nonprofit app and community for recording and identifying wildlife and plant observations.", "recommenders": 9, "commenters": 11, "warners": 0, "score": 8.505, "rising": -0.29, "first": "2026-01-08", "latest": "2026-08-06", "why": "Liked for turning everyday sightings into data with real research and conservation value, for its open API, and for range maps and projects that show what others have spotted nearby.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 9, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Research value", "Data views"], "caveat": "Doxxing risk", "short_quote": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of.", "icon": true, "domain": "inaturalist.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.inaturalist.org", "pricing": "free", "aliases": ["iNaturalist"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for turning everyday sightings into data with real research and conservation value,", "cites": [{"id": 762155744, "item_id": 47634734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47634734", "by": "wdutch", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of.", "excerpt": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of. A friend of mine has uploaded several observations that turned out to be new to science.", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 744798704, "item_id": 46549919, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46549919", "by": "kulahan", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value.", "excerpt": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value. Others seem to have a better understanding than me, but from a purely anecdotal perspective, there was a huge prairie dog colony encroaching on housing. For years, nobody did anything about it. I documented it on iNat (for fun), and within a month they were relocated safely. How cool!", "context": "", "use_case": "documenting wildlife", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I Left iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 766657184, "item_id": 47916074, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47916074", "by": "nemo", "date": "2026-04-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "have been tracking butterflies in iNaturalist for a decade", "excerpt": "I live in Austin, we used to have huge butterfly migrations long ago, they were amazing to see, big swarms of Queen butterflies as well as Monarchs and other species. Last year's was heartbreaking to see, handfuls where there once were swarms, though I think that was driven by the drought. I have a pollinator garden and have been tracking butterflies in iNaturalist for a decade, last few years the numbers have been s", "context": "Austin resident with a pollinator garden", "use_case": "tracking butterflies", "switched_from": "", "story": "Butterflies are in decline across North America, a look at the Western Monarch"}]}, {"text": " for its open API,", "cites": [{"id": 787201057, "item_id": 49200066, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200066", "by": "olivierlacan", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "None of this replaces useful tools like iNaturalist whose excellent open API I use", "excerpt": "Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br", "context": "", "use_case": "plant images via API", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't"}, {"id": 762133200, "item_id": 47633325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633325", "by": "NkWsy", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The Inat API is so great.", "excerpt": "The Inat API is so great. We use it on our chicago river cameratrap ID site to get species info and eventually upload results to it. Once we filter out the millions of Chicago Geese. https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/cameratrap. Plus having a project is cool to see other observations in a given ecological area https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wild-mile-chicago", "context": "", "use_case": "species info for camera traps", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762233536, "item_id": 47639596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47639596", "by": "jimjeffers", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "excerpt": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "context": "", "use_case": "curating eDNA observations", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"text": " and for range maps and projects that show what others have spotted nearby.", "cites": [{"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762133200, "item_id": 47633325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633325", "by": "NkWsy", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The Inat API is so great.", "excerpt": "The Inat API is so great. We use it on our chicago river cameratrap ID site to get species info and eventually upload results to it. Once we filter out the millions of Chicago Geese. https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/cameratrap. Plus having a project is cool to see other observations in a given ecological area https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wild-mile-chicago", "context": "", "use_case": "species info for camera traps", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"text": " Caveats include a doxxing risk from photos geotagged at users' homes", "cites": [{"id": 762083280, "item_id": 47630205, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47630205", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk", "excerpt": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk especially for the large number of non-technical users that it has. A quick look at the map reveals the home addresses and names of many iNaturalist users in my neighborhood, lots of them older folks that probably don't realize that adding all of the neat wildlife that they see in their backyard (or uploading things they see on remote hikes without any 3G cove", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"text": " and image recognition that is hard to find in the UI and unreliable for mushrooms unless you already know what you're looking at.", "cites": [{"id": 752670208, "item_id": 47041888, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041888", "by": "childofhedgehog", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for.", "excerpt": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for. How is this app set up for mushroom IDs? Sounds really fun and I love the concept but given some mushrooms are quite dangerous correct IDs are vital. I assume this also applies to plants?", "context": "forager", "use_case": "mushroom identification", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Wildex \u2013 we built Pok\u00e9mon Go for real wildlife"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Research value", "summary": "Observations feed science and conservation, including finds new to science and recognized national records.", "quotes": [{"id": 762155744, "item_id": 47634734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47634734", "by": "wdutch", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of.", "excerpt": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of. A friend of mine has uploaded several observations that turned out to be new to science.", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 744798704, "item_id": 46549919, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46549919", "by": "kulahan", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value.", "excerpt": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value. Others seem to have a better understanding than me, but from a purely anecdotal perspective, there was a huge prairie dog colony encroaching on housing. For years, nobody did anything about it. I documented it on iNat (for fun), and within a month they were relocated safely. How cool!", "context": "", "use_case": "documenting wildlife", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I Left iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"label": "Data views", "summary": "Range maps, seasonal info, geofenced projects and export make the data easy to explore.", "quotes": [{"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762133200, "item_id": 47633325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633325", "by": "NkWsy", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The Inat API is so great.", "excerpt": "The Inat API is so great. We use it on our chicago river cameratrap ID site to get species info and eventually upload results to it. Once we filter out the millions of Chicago Geese. https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/cameratrap. Plus having a project is cool to see other observations in a given ecological area https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wild-mile-chicago", "context": "", "use_case": "species info for camera traps", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"label": "Open API", "summary": "Developers praise the open API and build tools on top of it.", "quotes": [{"id": 787201057, "item_id": 49200066, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200066", "by": "olivierlacan", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "None of this replaces useful tools like iNaturalist whose excellent open API I use", "excerpt": "Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br", "context": "", "use_case": "plant images via API", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't"}, {"id": 762133200, "item_id": 47633325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633325", "by": "NkWsy", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The Inat API is so great.", "excerpt": "The Inat API is so great. We use it on our chicago river cameratrap ID site to get species info and eventually upload results to it. Once we filter out the millions of Chicago Geese. https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/cameratrap. Plus having a project is cool to see other observations in a given ecological area https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wild-mile-chicago", "context": "", "use_case": "species info for camera traps", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762233536, "item_id": 47639596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47639596", "by": "jimjeffers", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "excerpt": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "context": "", "use_case": "curating eDNA observations", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"label": "Easy and fun", "summary": "Easy to use, and likened to real-life Pokemon.", "quotes": [{"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762155744, "item_id": 47634734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47634734", "by": "wdutch", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of.", "excerpt": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of. A friend of mine has uploaded several observations that turned out to be new to science.", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Doxxing risk", "summary": "Clusters of backyard observations on the map can reveal users' home addresses and names.", "quotes": [{"id": 762083280, "item_id": 47630205, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47630205", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk", "excerpt": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk especially for the large number of non-technical users that it has. A quick look at the map reveals the home addresses and names of many iNaturalist users in my neighborhood, lots of them older folks that probably don't realize that adding all of the neat wildlife that they see in their backyard (or uploading things they see on remote hikes without any 3G cove", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}]}, {"label": "ID reliability", "summary": "Identification can be unreliable for mushrooms unless you already have an idea of the species.", "quotes": [{"id": 752670208, "item_id": 47041888, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041888", "by": "childofhedgehog", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for.", "excerpt": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for. How is this app set up for mushroom IDs? Sounds really fun and I love the concept but given some mushrooms are quite dangerous correct IDs are vital. I assume this also applies to plants?", "context": "forager", "use_case": "mushroom identification", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Wildex \u2013 we built Pok\u00e9mon Go for real wildlife"}]}], "who": [{"by": "nemo", "context": "Austin resident with a pollinator garden", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47916074", "date": "2026-04-26"}, {"by": "davenporten", "context": "animal tracking hobbyist", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690794", "date": "2026-04-08"}, {"by": "Litost", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "date": "2026-04-03"}, {"by": "childofhedgehog", "context": "forager", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041888", "date": "2026-02-16"}], "tags": ["for citizen science", "for conservation projects", "for developers", "for animal tracking"], "use_cases": ["wildlife observation", "plant images via api", "plant and species identification", "tracking butterflies", "identifying species, contributing observations", "curating edna observations"], "compared": [{"slug": "merlin", "name": "Merlin", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "flora-incognita", "name": "Flora Incognita", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 762304576, "item_id": 47644036, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47644036", "by": "FLGMwt", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For now, we still want your observations, but if this is a concern you have, please take a look at the geoprivacy settings!", "excerpt": "hey, iNat eng here, just want to chime in that this is all great feedback! here's [1] some extra info on iNat's current geoprivacy treatment and [2] guidance on how to configure this for our different platforms for individual `Observations` (our core domain entity to which geo is attached). I'll at least share that this is on our radar to look at, but I wouldn't expect changes in the next few months. For now, we stil", "context": "iNat engineer", "use_case": "wildlife observation sharing", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47629433", "title": "iNaturalist", "mentions": 6}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49192566", "title": "Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47914677", "title": "Butterflies are in decline across North America, a look at the Western Monarch", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47654062", "title": "Ask HN: Any Interesting Niche Hobbies?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47040390", "title": "Show HN: Wildex \u2013 we built Pok\u00e9mon Go for real wildlife", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46548940", "title": "Why I Left iNaturalist", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 787201057, "item_id": 49200066, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200066", "by": "olivierlacan", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "None of this replaces useful tools like iNaturalist whose excellent open API I use", "excerpt": "Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br", "context": "", "use_case": "plant images via API", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't"}, {"id": 787108192, "item_id": 49194262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49194262", "by": "pbhjpbhj", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use iNaturalist (and Merlin for birdsong recognition).", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist (and Merlin for birdsong recognition). No ads, non-profit, contribute to research, etc. It also allows you to find out what others have spotted in your area. I like the range maps, the images across seasons, and other seasonal information. The actual ML-based recognition is somewhat hidden, I think that part of the UI needs some work; it seems like it was made for researchers first then hacked for n", "context": "", "use_case": "plant and species identification", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't"}, {"id": 766657184, "item_id": 47916074, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47916074", "by": "nemo", "date": "2026-04-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "have been tracking butterflies in iNaturalist for a decade", "excerpt": "I live in Austin, we used to have huge butterfly migrations long ago, they were amazing to see, big swarms of Queen butterflies as well as Monarchs and other species. Last year's was heartbreaking to see, handfuls where there once were swarms, though I think that was driven by the drought. I have a pollinator garden and have been tracking butterflies in iNaturalist for a decade, last few years the numbers have been s", "context": "Austin resident with a pollinator garden", "use_case": "tracking butterflies", "switched_from": "", "story": "Butterflies are in decline across North America, a look at the Western Monarch"}, {"id": 763052704, "item_id": 47690794, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690794", "by": "davenporten", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use iNaturalist myself, but there are others.", "excerpt": "Animal tracking. I picked it up in college and it has been a real source of joy and a true challenge. It's also something you can do almost anywhere: urban, suburban, rural, out in \"the wild.\" A lot of people think of it as looking for paw/hoof marks in the mud, but tracking can actually be quite involved, requiring you to understand the environment and ecology as a whole. For example, tracking birds is outrageously ", "context": "animal tracking hobbyist", "use_case": "identifying species, contributing observations", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Any Interesting Niche Hobbies?"}, {"id": 762233536, "item_id": 47639596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47639596", "by": "jimjeffers", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "excerpt": "We use iNaturalist to curate eDNA observed results on https://ednaexplorer.org", "context": "", "use_case": "curating eDNA observations", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762155744, "item_id": 47634734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47634734", "by": "wdutch", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of.", "excerpt": "I love iNaturalist! It's the closest thing to real-life Pokemon I know of. A friend of mine has uploaded several observations that turned out to be new to science.", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762133200, "item_id": 47633325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633325", "by": "NkWsy", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The Inat API is so great.", "excerpt": "The Inat API is so great. We use it on our chicago river cameratrap ID site to get species info and eventually upload results to it. Once we filter out the millions of Chicago Geese. https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/cameratrap. Plus having a project is cool to see other observations in a given ecological area https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wild-mile-chicago", "context": "", "use_case": "species info for camera traps", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762126720, "item_id": 47632920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632920", "by": "Litost", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data", "excerpt": "I use iNaturalist semi-regularly and was about to start using it for a rewilding project I'm involved in, so looked into that and some of the alternatives. I really like how easy it is to use, the various views on the data (incl. geofenced projects and places), the fact you can export it all back out again, the volunteer and \"AI\" assist on IDing stuff etc. But I guess the main other pro for me was that, in the UK at ", "context": "involved in a rewilding project in the UK", "use_case": "biodiversity recording for rewilding project", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 762083280, "item_id": 47630205, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47630205", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk", "excerpt": "I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk especially for the large number of non-technical users that it has. A quick look at the map reveals the home addresses and names of many iNaturalist users in my neighborhood, lots of them older folks that probably don't realize that adding all of the neat wildlife that they see in their backyard (or uploading things they see on remote hikes without any 3G cove", "context": "", "use_case": "wildlife observation", "switched_from": "", "story": "iNaturalist"}, {"id": 752670208, "item_id": 47041888, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041888", "by": "childofhedgehog", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for.", "excerpt": "I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it\u2019s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for. How is this app set up for mushroom IDs? Sounds really fun and I love the concept but given some mushrooms are quite dangerous correct IDs are vital. I assume this also applies to plants?", "context": "forager", "use_case": "mushroom identification", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Wildex \u2013 we built Pok\u00e9mon Go for real wildlife"}, {"id": 744798704, "item_id": 46549919, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46549919", "by": "kulahan", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value.", "excerpt": "I love iNat, and I think it has a lot of real-world value. Others seem to have a better understanding than me, but from a purely anecdotal perspective, there was a huge prairie dog colony encroaching on housing. For years, nobody did anything about it. I documented it on iNat (for fun), and within a month they were relocated safely. How cool!", "context": "", "use_case": "documenting wildlife", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I Left iNaturalist"}]}