Animal tracking is a fairly new tactic that scientists are using to learn about animal movement. Roland Kays, a professor in the Conservation Wildlife Program at N.C. State University and a researcher and lab director at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, has been using tracking devices to watch the movement of many different types of animals all across various parts of the world.
“The tracking devices get better each year so the results continue to change and strengthen as well,” Kays said.
The main animal Kays said he is tracking here in North Carolina is the great egret. According to Kays, the egret wears a lightweight harness with a GPS tracker on it in order for Kays and other scientists to follow its movement.
“So far, the egrets have traveled great distances,” Kays said. “They have traveled to places such as Boston, Florida, Niagara Falls, Cuba and Jamaica. This specific tracking project is partnered with different schools in North Carolina.”
According to Kays, the birds are given names corresponding with where the bird was caught.
“Each bird that is tracked is given a name based on the principal of the school that is located near where the bird was caught,” said Kays.
According to Kays, they started out with eight birds but now have seven because one recently died. Kays says another has been stationary for quite a while in Cuba, so he hopes to reach some who would be willing to go and find the bird since he knows exactly where it is due to the GPS.
In the triangle region specifically, Kays says he is trying to start tracking domestic cats. He and an undergraduate student, Rebecca Montgomery, want to track the cats in residential areas to see where they go when kept outside, according to Kays.
Kays said that the harnesses and tracking devices for the cats are very inexpensive compared to the other GPS devices, which are around $2000 for the other animals. The devices for the cats are around $50, but are not waterproof and last only about a week before having to change the batteries.
Kays said anyone who is interested to buy the tracking devices and participate in the study. He says he hopes that by finding where the cats go, people will have the ability to know whether or not the cats are becoming endangered or if they are preying on any wildlife. In suburban areas there is not as much of risk of extinction for the animals that inhabit it.
Kays said he wants to give special attention to cats because most scientists emphasize wildlife more than they do on domestic animals. This will allow for a new perspective on animal movement.
“The problem with studying animals is that they move. Moving is essentially what an animal is,” Kays said.
Luckily, with this advanced technology, Kays says he can obtain detailed information about where exactly the animals are going as well as any meanings behind their movement.
According to Kays, the ultimate goal of animal tracking is to learn more about the animal. The next hope is to learn more about the meaning of their movements.
Kays said he wants to know how the animals are adapting to urban areas, if they even are at all. This is a study that will hopefully allow people to understand more about animals, ask more science and conservation questions and seek ways to preserve their existence.
