Radio-tracking: some applications and limitations

Abstract

For centuries men have observed and interpreted tracks and signs left by animals. Fieldcraft has grown from a trapper’s art into a biologists’ science, which has been enhanced, rather than made obsolete by the advent of the most recent technology. Murie’s (1936) meticulous ‘Following fox trails’ and Haglund’s (1966) miles of skiing along lynx tracks are examples of the rewards of systematic tracking, a skill championed by Tinbergen (for example 1965). Ingenious deductions have been necessary because so many animals, in particular mammals, elude direct observation. Indeed because of hard ground, thick undergrowth and months without snow, insights gained from reading tracks are often limited to mere glimpses of the animal’s lifestyle. For this reason the development of radio-tracking apparatus constitutes a revolution in the history of field biology. To answer the many biological questions for which glimpses of the animal’s whereabouts and behaviour are insufficient, radio-tracking can provide continuous records not only of where an animal travelled, but also of when it was there. These attributes are marred by one shortcoming; while yielding information on where and when an animal moved, radio-tracking tells little of what it was doing. Nevertheless, radio-tracking techniques are useful additions to the skills and fieldcraft of biologists.