IXD303: Ways to Track the Health & Location of Wildlife

I want to design an app that is connected to a device to track the health and location of Giant Pandas. Therefore, I want to research different types of devices to see which would be the most effective and animal-friendly.

Tracking collars

These can be GPS, radio, or satellite collars and are commonly used to track the location of many wild animals including, cheetahs, rhinos, and lions.

Strengths:

  • You can track animals daily. If they are sick or injured, health professionals will know where to find them.
  • Animals can get emergency help if they become trapped in a poacher’s snare before their injuries become fatal.
  • Users receive an alert if the animal stays still for an unnatural amount of time.

Weaknesses:

  • If the tracker gets lost or is damaged, the data is lost.
  • They may be uncomfortable for the animal.

 

Rhino ankle collars/horn implants

Usually, the best way to track rhinos has been through horn implants. However, rhino ankle collars have been on the rise and are working well. They work similarly to the GPS neck collars.

Strengths:

  • The ankle collars have a much bigger battery device than the horn implants.
  • They have allowed for better tracking of the rhino population and their health and wellbeing.
  • The horn implants can alert when a rhino is in distress and even if its horn is being hacked off by poachers.
  • Once in place, the rhino won’t feel the horn implant and it’s unlikely to be damaged.

Weaknesses:

  • Like the neck collar, the ankle collar may be slightly uncomfortable for the rhino.
  • If the tracker gets lost or is damaged, the data is lost.

 

Radio telemetry

This is very high-frequency radio tracking and works similarly to GPS trackers. The user uses an antenna to track the animal if they are within range.

Strengths:

  • It is one of the most reliable ways to track wildlife.
  • The signal is very powerful.
  • It has a long battery life of up to three years. This is good as the animal won’t have to go through the stress of getting it replaced often.

Weaknesses:

  • The antenna can only have a signal so far. If the animal goes out of reach, you can no longer track them. Therefore, it doesn’t work well for animals that travel long distances.
  • It can be expensive as the data transmissions are sent as SMS messages.

 

ICARUS

This stands for the International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space, also known as the internet of animals. They use specially designed tags that use radio and GPS.

Strengths:

  • They are small and light so won’t be uncomfortable for the animals. It has also allowed them to track smaller animals which they haven’t been able to before.
  • They can better track animal health such as temperature, the speed at which they are moving, body position, etc.
  • They can even track the surrounding weather to see how the animals are doing in their environment.
  • They last the full lifetime of the animal so they will never have to disturb the animal to replace it.
  • Users get alerts if the animal is distressed, their temperature has dropped, or they stop moving.
  • They are reliable and can withstand cold, heat, and water.

The only weakness I can think of for this is that it may be expensive. However, I think the strengths out way this massively.

 

My final thoughts

After researching the many ways to track animals, I think the one that is most effective is the ICARUS tags. Therefore, if I was to move this project forward, this is the one I would choose. Part of my design question is how we can track pandas’ health in an animal-friendly way, and I think this is the way forward. They are small and light so the panda wouldn’t be aware of it. It would last their lifetime and wouldn’t need to be replaced like the other trackers. It would also enable users to track their health and not just their location.

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