Though an “invaluable” research and monitoring device, radio-collars are notorious for their high cost and low shelf life.
While each piece costs more than Rs. 3 lakh, the device — which can track an animal either through GPS or radio frequency — has a maximum shelf life of just around two years.
“Even in good collars, the signals weaken after two years, and it needs to be replaced,” said P.S. Somashekar, Inspector-General (Southern Region), National Tiger Conservation Authority, who had worked with radio-collars in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan.
In an extensive research covering more than 330 radio-collars that have been used since 1983, Bilal Habib and his team from the Wildlife Institute of India (three decades of wildlife radio telemetry in India: a review) note that nearly half the collars had failed during usage. Extreme weather conditions in wildlife habitats adversely affect battery usage and curtail its lifespan, the study notes.
ControversiesThough the study notes that radio-collars have insignificant negative effects on the animal (collars are barely 0.01 per cent of the animal’s weight), they have come under criticism.
In 1990, the State government forcefully stopped tiger expert Ullas Karanth’s research at Nagarahole National Park after five tigers — four of which were collared — died within two months. Though scientific inquiries absolved the researcher, the government banned the project claiming that the tigers were affected by an overdose of tranquilisers administered before the tiger was tagged.
In 2009, a ‘wildlife intelligence report’ by the Madhya Pradesh government had attributed tiger deaths in Panna National Park to collaring — either through infections or poachers “tracking down” the animal through radio signals. This was disputed by environmentalists and wildlife experts.
“The frequencies of the collars are only known to the team tracking the animal. It is not easy for a poacher to use these frequencies,” said Mr. Somashekar.
