High Tech Tracking

The author works with the Nature Conservation Bureau Ltd. in Britain

which has taken a special interest in satellite tracking of wildlife.

We asked him to tell us where this exciting technology is heading

and how it can be used to help conserve Arabian wildlife.


What do emperor penguins from the Antarctic; grey seals around

the shores of Britain and houbara bustards in southern Arabia

all have in common? Not much you might say, except for the fact

that they have each been tracked using space-age technology. The

problem of following emperor penguins through the bitterly cold

Antarctic winter eluded biologists until French researchers fitted

the penguins with satellite tags. Since the penguins were living

on pack ice the information on their own movements was compared

with remote sensing imagery which revealed fluctuating conditions

of the ice itself. The result was that scientists sitting in their

comfortable laboratories back in France were able to report that,

after four months without food, in the deepest of winter conditions,

the penguins walked continuously, night and day, over a distance

of 100 kilometres in order to reach ice-free areas where it is

supposed that the penguins were able to feed. The difficulties

of studying this behaviour in the field have made the satellite

tracking technology of special value to biologists investigating

this and other aspects of the Antarctic’s wildlife.

Grey seals living off the east coast of the United Kingdom have

been tracked by the use of similar technology by members of the

Sea Mammal Research Unit. The scientists were thus able to demonstrate

that seals can find their way quite easily from one hauling out

site to another one 250 kms away from the first. They did this

while swimming offshore, out of sight of land, and kept to an

almost identical course on several such satellite tracked journeys.

Needless to say, the scientists were able to acquire this fascinating

insight into the seal’s navigational abilities whilst drinking

their tea in their laboratory!

The technology is also being used within Arabia where, for example,

houbara bustards have been fitted with lightweight satellite tags

by researchers at the National Avian Research Centre in Abu Dhabi.

Initial trials were carried out on houbara within large fenced

enclosures and more recently the tags have been fitted to both

wild and captive bred birds that have been released. In one such

experiment a wild female was followed for a period of 62 days.

During this prolonged period the scientists were twice able to

go to the place where the satellite tracking reported the bird

to have been last recorded and to then use a sophisticated electronic

receiver to locate the wild bird and to take a closer look at

it to see how it was managing. On the second such occasion they

could se that the tag was nearing the end of its useful life and

they were able to recapture the bird and to remove the tag.

The researchers hope that this advanced technology will permit

them to follow the migrating birds as they fly between their breeding

grounds in central Asia and their over-wintering grounds in Arabia.

They will thus be able to see precisely where the birds go to

breed and which routes they follow. Clearly, such information

can be of crucial value to future conservation programmes and

the UAE team is keen to understand more about the houbara’s life-history

in order to assess the comparative values of various potential

conservation strategies.

Arabia is an ideal area of the world for such satellite tracking

studies since vast areas of the peninsula are extremely difficult

to access and weather conditions make prolonged field trips arduous

and in some cases even dangerous. Although this technology cannot

replace the need for good field-work, it can greatly extend the

scope of biological studies and reveal information that would

be otherwise extremely difficult, or in some cases even impossible,

to obtain by any other means.

One of the prime concerns of scientists involved in this work

is for the welfare of the animals themselves. For this reason

careful studies are made of any possible effects of the tags on

the animals before work is conducted in the wild. As the work

proceeds any possible effects are carefully noted and their implications

are assessed. Over time a body of information has been built up

and it is increasingly possible to make judgements on suitable

methods for tagging species that have not so far been tracked

in this way.

At the present time all such animal tracking uses the Argos satellite

system. One can track the animal from the comfort of the laboratory

and it makes no difference if you happen to be a few metres away

from the animal or thousands of kilometres away. All that is required

to receive the latest report on locations for a particular tagged

animal is a personal computer, a suitable modem and a telephone

line. It is even possible to receive the information directly

from the satellite, using a suitably tuned satellite dish.

Several organisations are currently engaged in this work. The

Nature Conservation Bureau, based in Newbury, England, has a wide

range of skills in habitat and species management as well as in

coordinating international projects in the field of conservation.

They were responsible for the first remote tracking of houbara

bustard using UK-designed bird-born transmitters, in conjunction

with the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development

in Saudi Arabia. More recently they have been involved in satellite

tracking carried out by the National Avian Research Centre in

Abu Dhabi. Not only can they conduct studies on animal movements

but they have the capability to advise on the special characteristics

of the Argos system itself; an element that is often over looked

but is essential to maximising the performance from the system.

The Argos system comprises two polar-orbiting satellites jointly

operated by NOAA in the United States, and CNES in France. Tagging

programmes involve the use of these two satellites, a PTT or platform

transmitter terminal (in other words the tag that is placed on

the animal); fixed ground stations for receiving the signals from

the satellite and sending positioning information to the user;

or, in some cases, mobile ground stations that receive information

directly from the satellite. From the transmitter’s viewpoint

the satellite will rise above and set below the horizon in less

than 14 minutes. During this period the satellite will receive

a number of ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio pulses from the PTT

and the signal will change due to the Doppler-shift. The details

of these frequency changes are relayed to the ground station and

are further processed by powerful computers at the Argos headquarters

in Toulouse. The final result is an accurate positioning of the

PTT or, in this case, the animal bearing the tag.

Every tracking assignment has its particular characteristics and

potential problems. Good training is an essential pre-requisite.

In each case the tags themselves must be carefully customised

to the particular animal. Apart from the housing for the electronics

component, the tag comprises a special means of attachment to

the animal, an on/off cycle control and an antenna. All must be

correctly tuned and adjusted for the system to work properly.

Needless to say, the minimisation of weight is of crucial importance

in most tagging operations and technology is helping in this with

improved batteries and microelectronic circuitry. The aim is to

achieve longer and longer working lives for tags once they are

fitted and we are seeing constant improvements in this area.

There is no doubt that satellite tracking of wildlife is here

to stay. The thought that it might be used to help save the Arabian

leopard, or to re-establish the houbara bustard, or as a means

of tracking oryx as they once more run free in the Rub al Khali

is a fine reward for all the work and effort that has gone into

this work.

Further information on the hitech wildlife tracking can be obtained

by writing directly to the author at The Nature Conservation Bureau

Ltd., 36 Kingfisher Court, Hambridge Road, Newbury, Berkshire

RG14 5SJ, UK. Fax (+44) 1635 550230.

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