Tracking African elephants with a global positioning system (GPS) radio collar.

Abstract

Reviews December 1996 to May 1997 Global Postioning System (GPS) trials based on results from two bulls radio collared in Amboseli NP: M86 (38 years and in musth when collared) tracked for 134 days, and M169 (34 years) tracked for 168 days. The collars, containing the GPS instrument and VHF modem package on top with a battery pack at the bottom, were successful in obtaining fixes in 94.6% or 2,966 times out of 3,136 and 96.5% or 2,638 out of 2,734 attempts. Failure to log positions peaked just before dawn with a subsidiary low one hour after midday, these may be due to the animals lying down or being under shade trees. On average each elephant was located 20 times per day and downloadings conducted with a light aircraft every two weeks. Results were converted to speadsheets (MS Excel) from which maps were created using MapInfo software. Daily and hourly movements were plotted. Trials demonstrate GPS radio tracking of elephants is feasible and capable of generating high quality data 24 hours a day and under all weather conditions.