Management strategies and conservation of large and medium-sized mammals are supported by different techniques. Footprint traps are one of the most used, these have advantages but also disadvantages, which has an effect on the decisions and management strategies. To evaluate the effectiveness of the footprint traps scope, limitations and implications in monitoring wild populations, a systematic review of its use was performed, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the different themes domain in which they are applied by analyzing variance, multiple correlations (Tukey test), and probability of occurrence. The more representative issues and order for tracking and monitoring mammals using traps footprint were richness, abundance and the carnivorous order. For all domains best advantage was the ability to detect species in various types of habitat and the disadvantage that generates more bias between the domains is that the technique requires other techniques to complete the sampling and get reliable estimates. In general applicability of the traps footprint it is subject to the requirements and circumstances of each population to assess parameters and environmental conditions of the area to study the biology and behavior of the species itself. The traps are important traces for monitoring wildlife populations tool, no clutch is not sufficient and require complementary methods that allow robust estimates.