There is a lot that we still do not know about the animal kingdom, but GPS tracking is helping researchers get a better understanding of where animals go. In Wisconsin, recent efforts have focused on elk, deer, and wolves in an effort to better understand the movements of these animals as they go about their lives – but especially when they come into contact with humans, such as during the hunting season.
The way the animals are tracked is like this. A specialize collar is attached to the animal after they have been sedate safely and humanely by someone running the tracking experiment. A very high frequency (VHF) radio signal is emitted by this collar which can be picked up by a hand-held receiver that a researcher carries out into the field on foot, in a truck, a helicopter, or a plane. As they draw closer to the singal they can begin to get a better location on the animal until they come upon it.
Some collars are set to fall off after a specified period of time, after which it sends out its signal to be picked up by the researcher. He then will go out into the field and recover the device which has passively logged the animals movements for the period that the collar was attached to the animal. This type of passive GPS tracking is very important for research.
Nancy Mathews, Professor and Chair of Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, had this to say in a recent interview with Madison.com about the some deer tracking data they uncovered:
Some of the best information we obtained dealt with dispersal patterns and exploratory movements. There’s much more we could learn, but the funding for the project ran out and we’re no longer following the few deer that still have collars.
We also dispelled several myths about deer in this area. No adult males studied dispersed from the study area. Deer that were disturbed during the nine-day gun deer season (2005) moved away some but came back to their home ranges within 24 hours.
While this information might not seem terribly important in the short term, being able to fully understand animals is an important thing for humans to attempt to do. If GPS tracking can assist us in that effort then it should be utilized where money and practical concerns allow.
Source: Madison News