Wildlife surveillance

Hey guys. How are you? Today i am pretty exited to tell you guys that in this entry, it is going to be my favorite topics which is Wildlife surveillance. Why did i say favorite? It is because i love animals and i believe that wild species especially endangered species should receive help from us in order to conserve their population. So as i have explained before in my entry about RFID where i said that researcher tagging the animal with some sort of tracking devices that allows them to track the location, the movement pattern and behavior pattern of the animal. 

Why did they do that? Why wildlife surveillance important? It is because in conserving endangered animals, surveillance is crucial. we need to know about their location to study about their behavior, and to provide security to them. This will make conservation effort easier thus able to increase total population of that particular animal. Instead of animal surveillance, it is commonly called animal tracking. Like i said before, the data from animal tracking helps us understand how individuals and populations move within local areas, migrate across oceans and continents, and evolve through millennia. 

So these are some methods applicable for animal tracking

1) Good old fashioned  wildlife Tracking

It uses traditional Ecological Knowledge basis of most cultures around the world, interpreting the indirect evidence (tracks and signs) left behind by wildlife continues to be a fundamental field skill in the modern fields of wildlife research and management, hunting, and environmental education.

An animal footprints (possibly a feline)

2)  Global positioning system (GPS)

Usually a collar is used with GPS system embedded with it.  The function is to calculate the location of an animal at specific time intervals using positions estimated by a network of satellites. These locations can be stored on-board the tag or transmitted to the user through a communication network. These tags can provide pretty accurate locations of the animals. However, these tags are relatively expensive and heavy, and so are usually limited to use on larger animals and require a large research budget if many animals will be tagged.

A jaguar strapped with GPS collar in its neck

3)  Remote Camera Traps

The third one is relatively common which is always used by conservationist, wildlife photographer or even poachers.  When the animals are spotted, this confirms that the animal still inhabiting in the ecosystem. The main concept of this is called wildlife trapping, which is to detect and study wildlife without directly interacting with or harming wildlife. Remote camera traps are designed to capture images or video footage of wildlife using either naturally occurring or strategically placed attractants or predicated travel corridors. Camera trap design depends on the target species, landscape, time frame, and often a number of other management considerations.

This camera, attached to the tree was set to monitor a game trail on the edge of a wetland. It focused on a scent marking scrape of a mountain lion. We need to be careful of setting up the camera to prevent damage to the camera.

In just one month, a mountain lion returned to this location and marked at the same location. Scent marking locations are an example of a natural attractant that can be used to successfully locate a camera trap.

4) Genetic Sample Collection (Biometrics)

This is the concept of biometric surveillance as i have explained to you in my previous entry. It uses DNA analysis. Researchers collects biological samples like scats and fur and then conduct genetic analysis to answer research questions including species identification, home range size, and population dynamics. Samples are collected from naturally deposited material such as scats and fur found in beds and tracks, or through artificial collection methods, mainly as hair snagging devises. 

So these are all of the very informative Wildlife surveillance that i explained for your digest. In my honest opinion, wildlife surveillance is important to help the effort of maintaining the population of wildlife population.