Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

GPS Tracking Can Save the Elephants

June 3rd, 2011

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

Identifying One Zebra From the Next With GPS

May 25th, 2011

Zebras may look like walking barcodes, but these wild animals are actually tough to track. In order to identify one zebra from the next, scientists often shoot tranquilizer darts into a zebra’s skin rendering a zebra unconscious for a short amount of time. This tactic has worked for years, but it can result in danger for both zebras and humans. Recently, a team of scientists from the University of Chicago found another way to track zebras involving GPS tracking technology.

By taking photographs of zebras, the “Stripe Spotter” can scan each photograph, and distinctly differentiate one zebra from the next. In addition, scientists can determine the exact location where each photograph was taken thanks to GPS technology. This GPS photo identifying technology is similar to the technology that tags any photo you snap with a digital camera or cell phone.

Instead of listing the location of your vacation photos or finding a lost camera based upon GPS information, University of Chicago scientists are using GPS information to identify and track zebras. Scientists now know more about migration patterns, reasons why zebras may become targets for other animals, and how zebras like to live.

The Stripe Spotter is a breakthrough within the wildlife tracking world. As one lead scientist puts it “…it no longer takes two or three days to do the analysis for a single day’s work, just a couple of hours.” These hours make all the difference in the world when it comes to staying in touch with wild zebras.

Article Written by Harriette Halepis

GPS Helps Scientists Study Hedgehogs

May 23rd, 2011

The Godley Valley area of New Zealand’s South Island is not a place where you would expect to see hedgehogs running around with small GPS tracking in the form of backpacks affixed to them, but that is exactly what is happening as researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago seek to study the creatures’ behavior. They are particularly interested in their impact on native fauna as hedgehogs are a species introduced to the area rather than a native. Because of that, they have no natural predators on the island and their population is rapidly increasing. Conservationists are also concerned about their impact on native giant snails, weta, certain endemic insects, lizards and ground-nesting birds as hedgehogs happily munch on all of these.

Hedgehogs are smaller than porcupines and do not have poisonous spikes; they curl up into a ball when threatened. They are native to northern and western Europe and were introduced to New Zealand in the 19th century by Europeans as they settled the island. They are considered a serious pest in areas of Scotland and New Zealand because of their penchant for eating native wildlife and vegetation.

Due to the threat the hedgehog poses to native species, the University researchers decided to utilize GPS tracking to get an accurate picture of their habits and travel patterns. Twenty-eight hedgehogs were equipped with the GPS backpacks, giving data on their positions at any time and in any season. Data was collected every five minutes for five days. The units were designed to not interfere with the natural movements of the hedgehogs; they are lightweight and stay in place as the animal moves through brush and vegetation, and even as they defensively roll and nest. It was discovered that while they sometimes traveled as far as 1.5km in one direction, they also had favorite spots where they spent more time searching for food.

Hedgehogs are the smallest animals to be equipped with GPS devices and they have worked out well, supplying valuable information to researchers. Conservationists will be able to utilize the data as they seek to protect native vegetation and wildlife from these cute, but potentially threatening critters. By using GPS the guesswork and luck is taken out of the equation; the animals’ natural habits are able to be studied and analyzed. This would be very difficult to achieve using traditional research methods. It is a small investment that yields very accurate and important information.

GPS Helps Track Bear Population

May 8th, 2011

Scientists use GPS tracking all the time to study animal populations. They can gather a wealth of information using tracking tags and collars. For Aspen, Colorado’s wildlife manager Kevin Wright, a major concern every summer is the interaction of the local bear population with humans, especially in town. As spring moves in, bears are waking up and looking for food, and that eventually leads to bear-human conflict before the end of summer. If these conflicts can be avoided, both humans and bears are protected. But if bears are becoming a safety threat to humans, they become as threat to themselves as well because they then have to be put down.

A group of scientists have been conducting the Roaring Fork Urban Bear Ecology Study to gather important information about how human-bear interaction is going lately. Over the past five years, they have been following the movements of local bears fitted with tracking collars.

Each collar contains a GPS device, allowing computers to store information from satellites about where each bear has walked for the past five years. The collars were removed this spring as the study came to a close.
Some of the study findings were encouraging. Last summer, study leader Sharon Baruch-Mordo reported that bears do not become addicted to human food sources. Bears get into trouble when they wander into town or come in contact with campers and find accessible food. One incident will get a bear tranquilized, tagged, and possibly relocated; a second incident gets the bear euthanized. But if people follow bear-smart precautions such as keeping garbage bins locked, bears are just as happy to stick to their natural food sources out in the woods.
On the other hand, Colorado State University graduate student David Lewis finds discouraging information from collected bear data. He has been following the tracked bears to count bear cubs in dens as part of his thesis study about bear population growth. He thinks the bear population in the Aspen area is declining, mostly due to conflict with the human community. It looks like the scientists’ job isn’t done yet. More study is needed to see how the bear population is faring and narrow down factors that have a negative influence on the population. More GPS tracking could be part of that future as scientists work to preserve the bear population in the local ecosystem.

Article Written by Kadence Vyra

GPS May Keep Raccoons Away From Your Garbage

April 29th, 2011

Raccoons are known for their scavenging habits in cities all over North America. Not only do these creatures destroy garbage cans, but they also bring the threat of disease wherever they roam. Not much was known about the nocturnal animal’s behavior within the confines of cities, until now.

Canadian biologist Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux and Professor Suzanne McDonald conducted an experiment on urban raccoons using GPS tracking collars.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine what exactly the raccoons do on a regular basis, and whether or not a raccoon’s territory is large or small. The study lasted for almost two months.

GPS tracking collars were affixed to five raccoons who live in various areas of Toronto. These collars sent raccoon locations to researchers every five to fifteen minutes. This technology has made the data collected the most detailed raccoon data to date.

Through their research, Dupuis-Desormeaux and McDonald discovered the territory of each raccoon was an area roughly the size of three city blocks, regardless of location. More interestingly, the data suggests that the animals do not cross major roads. In fact, it appeared that major roads are the borders of each raccoon’s territory.

Researchers are still studying the raccoons, hoping to fully understand this adaptable, intelligent creature. By collecting data, researchers may also be able to find a few ways to keep raccoons away from your garbage can. GPS tracking technology is the key to understanding the animal that humans must live alongside.

Article Written by Khristen Foss

Protecting Endangered Species with GPS

March 9th, 2011

In the United States alone there are 496 animal species that are considered endangered. Whether due to ignorance concerning how to protect these animals or out of a cold-hearted desire to make money off their dead skins, people are creating an environment in which the world’s rarest and most beautiful animals are struggling to survive. Today, the only hope for innocent wildlife comes from the few caring individuals who spend their lives trying to protect endangered species. And their newest ally? GPS tracking.

While not technically endangered, polar bears are considered to be a threatened species. Their stunning white fur makes them targets for greedy poachers, and the ever-increasing effects of pollution can create toxic ocean waters for these beautiful creatures. However, the real threat to polar bears is the rapid loss of polar ice, which makes up their habitat. The decreasing amounts of floating ice make it difficult for bears to find a place to rest as they swim through frigid arctic waters.

Recently the Los Angeles Times chronicled an incredible event which showcased the unparalleled benefits of GPS technology in providing us with information about endangered species. An Alaskan polar bear sporting a GPS tracker swam an impressive 426 miles across arctic waters – in search of a piece of ice to rest upon. After 9 days of athletic swimming through freezing waters, the loss of 100 pounds and her yearling cub, the mother bear finally reached her destination.

Scientists at the University of Wyoming, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been working jointly to monitor the position of several Alaskan polar bears using tracking devices. They only discovered the ordeal that this mother bear experienced after reviewing her GPS coordinates. You can imagine their amazement to discover that she had swam more than 400 miles!

GPS tracking makes it possible for scientists and wildlife protection experts to protect endangered species in a way that has been previously unprecedented. By tracking the location of threatened animals, they are able to head off dangerous situations, removing the endangered animals from harm as needed. By protecting these priceless animals they are able to preserve an aspect of our world that can never be replaced if lost. Today, GPS technology plays a huge role in making the dream of saving our world’s animals a reality.

Scientists Study Fishers with GPS

February 23rd, 2011

Scientists are increasingly using GPS tracking collars to study animals in the wild. It’s an incredible way to collect data that would have been a hugely inaccurate guessing game in times past. As we all know, wild animals are shy of people and will often go far out of their way to avoid contact. Still, as developed areas around cities spread out, these animals have to move or adapt. Biologists and conservationists and other scientists are greatly interested in the effects of human development on ecosystems, and many are now employing GPS to help them gather unprecedented amounts of data.

The most difficult part is live-trapping the animal and equipping it with a GPS collar or chip. After that, the scientist can just sit back and watch. The GPS device sends out a signal several times a minute, and satellites pick up those signals and calculate the device’s coordinates. Computers plug those coordinates into maps, and the data is now easy to study.
A recent fascinating example is the work of Roland Kays, the curator of mammals at the New York State Museum, and his partner Scott LaPoint, a graduate student working on his dissertation. They are collecting data on the movements of fishers in urban areas. A fisher is a weasel-like creature closely related to a marten. Its natural habitat is forest-land, and it especially prefers continuous forest, but urban development is breaking up forests into isolated chunks. The fishers who have stayed in these areas seem to be very resourceful in figuring out how to travel from forest patch to forest patch.
While LaPoint is keeping most of the data under wraps until his dissertation is complete, he and Kays shared some of it through a recent article and a website where others can also watch the movements of “Phineas,” a fisher who has revealed some interesting information. The two collaborators watch his movements through the computer and then, when something makes them curious, they go to the spot and check out the surroundings and even the fisher’s tracks in the snow. Kays’ favorite discovery: nearly every time Phineas crosses a busy street, he uses culverts to get safely under the road. This recent study reinforces the fact that as more scientist gather GPS data like this, we can gain a greater understanding of how human movement affects natural habitats.

Article Written by Greg Bartlett

Charting Cranes with GPS Tracking

April 6th, 2010

By Harriette Halepis

Source acquired via The Independent, April, 5, 2010 – In 2009, three dozen whooping cranes died during migration. Today, only five-hundred whopping cranes exist within North America. Simply put, the whopping crane is about to become a thing of the past – unless researchers can figure out why these birds are dying in large numbers.

Tracking Wildlife

The best way to find out what’s killing whopping cranes is to record every action that whooping cranes make. Prior to the invention of GPS technology, this kind of information would have been impossible to decipher. Now that GPS technology is readily available, researching can track whopping crane flocks before, during, and after migration.

Ecologist Karine Gil believes that GPS technology is the answer to prevent crane extinction. Still, in order to find out why these birds are dying, Gil simply needs “…to know more.” By outfitting certain birds with identification rings, researchers at the Crane Trust in Nebraska can monitor every movement the birds make.

In order to capture the animals, ecologists use a rope contraption that does not cause panic, yet allows researchers to tag each bird. The GPS tracking devices that are attached to each crane subject are solar-powered, and each weighs no more than 3 ounces. While the GPS trackers do not harm the birds, the information gathered by the trackers is crucial.

By closely studying the habits of whooping cranes, Gil hopes that the flock will double in size. The birds were able to grow significantly during the 1980s, which leads researchers to believe that growth can happen once again. Thanks to GPS technology, researchers such as Karine Gil can find out what’s bothering whooping cranes, and attempt to fix any major problems.

Even though whooping cranes are an endangered species, GPS Tracking may be able to save this species from becoming extinct. Tracking projects such as the one that Karine Gil is conducting gives other researchers hope that some animals may not have to face extinction. While preventing extinction seemed impossible many years ago, this is no longer the case now that GPS tracking is available to wildlife researchers.