Wildlife radio telemetry

A U.S. Fish & Wildlife employee uses radio telemetry to track mountain lions.

Wildlife radio telemetry is a tool used to track the movement and behavior of animals. This technique uses the transmission of radio signals to locate a transmitter attached to the animal of interest. It is often used to obtain location data on the animal's preferred habitat, home range, and to understand population dynamics.[1] The different types of radio telemetry techniques include very high frequency (VHF) transmitters, global positioning system (GPS) tracking, and satellite tracking.[2] Recent advances in technology have improved radio telemetry techniques by increasing the efficacy of data collection. However, studies involving radio telemetry should be reviewed in order to determine if newer techniques, such as collars that transmit the location to the operator via satellites, are actually required to accomplish the goals of the study.[3]

  1. ^ Silvy, Nova J. (2012). The Wildlife Techniques Manual. Vol. 1. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP.
  2. ^ Farve, Rey. "Demonstration of Satellite/GPS Telemetry for Monitoring Fine-Scale Movements of Lesser Prairie-Chickens". Technology and Development at the USDA Forest Service. United States Forest Service. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. ^ Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks Resources Inventory Branch for the Terrestrial Ecosystems Task Force Resources Inventory Committee (1998). "Wildlife Radio-telemetry". Ser. 2.0. Victoria, B.C.: Resources Inventory Committee. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.