What are Wildlife Collars?
What are wildlife collars? Wildlife collars are GPS trackers that send location data to your local state wildlife biologists. Collars are put on larger animals like deer, moose, elk, and lots of other animals to track the species migration. The information provided by these collars helps to keep people from destroying necessary migration roots.
Knowing about these wildlife migration roots helps us know where not to develop into residential areas. If people were to develop these migration roots it could impact people’s commutes during seasons of migration. Also, having man made obstacles to these animals’ migration can increase the mortality rate of all sorts of animals. If you would like to see some of these mapped corridors in Utah check out the Wildlife Migration Initiative website. Some of this information provided by these GPS tracking collars have lead to the construction of overpasses for animals over busy roads.
A good example of these bridges can be seen in Utah’s Parleys canyon. This bridge crosses over I-80 and provides a safe crossing for wildlife and cars. Throught the data provided from these collars, the Utah Division of wildlife Resources, Was able to detrmine that there was a migration coridor in this canyon. Now that the Utah wildlife bridge is constructed, we can watch the wildlife that uses this bridge thanks to trail cameras that the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has set up on the bridge!
Are Wildlife Tracking Collars Dangerous or Harmful to Animals?
Are these wildlife tracking collars dangerous or harmful to the animals wearing them? In some instances, they can be. These collars are just like a collar that you put on your average household dog. If the collar is put on too tight it can lead some animals to starvation. Another problem that these collars can pose, is if it is attached to an animal that is young and still growing. If one of these collars is put on an animal that is younger it will grow and could end up starving or suffocating as it gets bigger.
This is why these collars are put on by local state biologists. These biologists know how tight these collars should be to make sure that they do not obstruct an animal’s ability to feed its self. They also have a pretty good idea of the age of these animals and can make sure not to put collars on younger animals.
How long do GPS Collars Last?
How long do GPS collars last? According to state wildlife websites, these GPS collars batteries will last between 2 and 4 years. However, there are a few factors that can play into how long these collars stay on animals. Sometimes animals will damage the collars and get them to fall off before the 2 to 4 year period. This can happen by animals running through vegetation or even fighting other animals.
Harvesting a Collared Animal
If you harvest an animal with a GPS collar, make sure to return it to your local wildlife biologists. Often these collars will have information on them to help return them. You can sometimes also get access to the information tracked by the collar. This is dependent on some states and policies that they may have in place. Sometimes you can also find these collars on animals that have expired. If you find them make sure to follow the instructions above.
Published Data
Occasionaly the states wildlife biologists will publish the data gathered by these collars. Recently, in Utah, the state published data where a collared mountain lion attacked and killed a collared mule deer. After it was killed it then had a collared black bear come and eat on the carcus of the dead deer. To see the video of this click the button below!