HOW DO YOU PUT A GPS COLLAR ON A DEER WITHOUT CAPTURING IT?
A deer approaches bait and triggers a device that fits it with a GPS collar. A different version was also tested on a fox in controlled conditions.
The deer puts its head through an opening to reach some feed. When it backs away, there is a GPS collar around its neck. A little later it comes back to investigate the same spot. The scene comes from a trial in an enclosure, described in BioScience.
To fit a wild animal with a GPS collar, researchers usually have to capture and restrain it first. Richard Bischof, at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, is trying to skip that step. The animal triggers the device by interacting with bait.
An opening for the deer, a different device for the fox
In the deer trial, feed sits inside a chamber just within reach. When the animal tries to get it, it sets off the mechanism that fits the collar. For the red fox, Bischof tested a different device set in the ground. Both collars are adjustable and designed to break away if they become snagged.
What the trials tell us so far
The videos show that the devices successfully fitted collars to deer and foxes in controlled conditions. Researchers still need to establish how often this works and how animals respond compared with traditional capture. The paper shows that the idea is feasible. Success rates and performance measures are for later studies.
The idea begins with a question we might ask even when watching an animal from a distance. How much do we have to disturb it to learn more about it? In Genesis, people are given a garden to tend and care for. For someone studying a deer, caring for it might mean asking whether next time they can let it walk away on its own.
