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GPS tracking collars have been used to assist scientists in the study of animal behavior for years. But as the devices reveal more information about the behavior of otherwise difficult to observe animals such as Kenyan elephants, a more pressing problem has also been revealed: poaching. Poaching occurs when hunters illegally kill an animal for profit. In the case of the elephants, most poachers are after their coveted ivory tusks.

Save the Elephants, a charitable organization that has outfitted Kenyan elephants with tracking collars, uncovered a previously undetected poaching problem when four of the monitored animals turned up dead. Presumably, many more unmonitored animals also fell victim. The organization hopes that rangers will be able to protect the animals more effectively if they can monitor their location and movement throughout the region. Poachers apparently understand this possibility as well, since one of the dead elephants sported a tracking collar that had been destroyed with an assault rifle.
GPS tracking devices enable rangers to keep an eye on endangered animals such as the elephants by sending signals at intervals back to a receiving device. With this information, both scientists and rangers can follow the movements of single animals or of an entire herd, either in real time or as a report over time. If no movement occurs within a given period, rangers know it’s time to check on the animal, which led to the discovery of the four poached animals.
While poaching will undoubtedly remain problematic for regions such as Kenya where endangered animals live, officials still hope that tracking at least some of the animals will discourage poaching activity and perhaps eventually eliminate it altogether. In order to step up the surveillance and track down as many illegal hunters as possible, however, organizations such as Save the Elephants will need additional funding.
As GPS tracking assists with the protection of endangered elephants in Kenya, conservationists around the world urge people to take a stronger stand in protecting some of the world’s most beloved animals from extinction. Tracking technology can help accomplish this goal not only in Kenya, but also in areas as diverse as Antarctica and the depths of the ocean. Whales, penguins, elephants, and many other endangered animals deserve the protection science can give them as GPS tracking leads the way in further enabling humans to peacefully coexist alongside the animals who share our planet.

Article Written by Lynetta Bowen