GPS Tracking of Wildlife
Researchers Study Travel Patterns of Animals
Keith Miller, 22, hasn’t danced with wolves, but he’s followed them with a GPS tracking device.
The Central Michigan University grad student spent the summer working as a research assistant in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Yellowstone has one of the largest and rarest ecosystems in the nation. Hundreds of endangered or threatened species live there. Grizzlies, wolf, bison and elk are plentiful in the park’s grasslands and woodlands.
Miller, who says he has a love of the outdoors and a deep desire to conserve it, was part of a GPS tracking crew that monitored the park’s grizzly bear population. The crew spent months documenting where the bears traveled, slept and killed their prey. The most exciting part, according to the student, was collaring the bears with GPS tracking devices. Researchers had to trap bears, tranquilize them, put GPS tracking collars around their necks, and release them.
The GPS tracking devices placed on the grizzly bears are only temporary. The GPS tracking units are built to come loose and drop off shortly after the batteries die. Other GPS tracking collars have an automatic release mechanism, so the researcher can trigger the collar to drop off.
Wildlife Tracking Similar to Vehicle Tracking
GPS tracking of wildlife is similar to vehicle tracking. In fact, wildlife tracking evolved from vehicle tracking devices.
Vehicle tracking has been around for public use for about a decade. At first, vehicle tracking was used by police, businesses like trucking companies, taxicabs, bus fleets, and later, personal vehicle tracking. But GPS tracking applications quickly expanded as GPS tracking units became smaller and lighter. It didn’t take long for scientists to learn that vehicle tracking could be adapted to track animals in the wild.
There are two types of vehicle tracking: passive vehicle tracking and real-time vehicle tracking. Both fix on the exact location of an object using satellite signals.
Passive Tracking
Passive vehicle tracking systems store incremental position updates in internal memory, within the device. The vehicle tracking device is later retrieved and the GPS tracking data is downloaded to a personal computer for analysis. Some vehicle tracking systems allow remote downloading to a portable receiver, without having to retrieve the GPS tracking device.
Real-Time Tracking
Real-time vehicle tracking is also called active vehicle tracking. It also involves a GPS tracking receiver. But, rather than being stored, the GPS tracking data is immediately transmitted through a wireless (cellular) phone network. GPS tracking location can be viewed in “real time” on a computer or handheld with Internet access or the GPS tracking data can be seen on demand with a prompt or “ping.”
Passive GPS tracking devices can be used on animals when the researcher wants to remove it later to find out where the animal has been. Real-time GPS tracking can be expensive, but the researcher can watch in real time, as the animal wanders in its natural environment.
Why Monitor Wildlife With GPS Tracking?
There are a number of reasons why biologists and nature-lovers would introduce GPS tracking as a research method. Like vehicle tracking, it’s accurate, reliable and saves a great deal of time, labor, and, in the end, money.
- GPS Tracking Yields Better Data: GPS tracking is incredibly accurate. Humans don’t have to measure, do math, or fall to physical limitations such as eyesight or stamina. The possibility of human error is virtually eliminated.
- GPS Tracking Saves Time: For a researcher out in the field, travel time alone is cumbersome. In the wild, losing sight of the subject is a constant drawback, because it could be minutes, hours or days before the animal is sighted again. GPS tracking is almost always working.
- GPS Tracking Transcends Spatial Boundaries: A scientist can only walk so far, run or drive so fast, take a boat across a body of water, immerse himself under water, or fly so high. The GPS tracking goes where the creature goes.
- GPS Tracking is Unobtrusive: The creature at some point will be unaware of the GPS tracking device. This hands-off approach removes the threat of the researcher being detected, the animal being frightened, defensive or changing its behavior.
- GPS Tracking Receivers are Lightweight: GPS tracking allows the “tracker” to do his job from a remote location. He can observe and at the same time have access to a fully-functional laboratory. With GPS tracking, the scientist does not have to carry around a lot of heavy, expensive and weather-sensitive equipment.
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Tags: Bear, GPS Tracking, Grizzlies, Real Time, wildlife, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park
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