Why does BRU use GPS tracking collars for baboons?
- Photo: John Burnside
One of BRU’s members, Tali Hoffman, has been studying the landscape requirements of the Peninsula baboons for some years now. Tali has been responsible for the collection and analysis of the bulk of the spatial information that is now being used to guide the management of this baboon population. Started in 2006 this spatial research has involved thousands of hours of intensive field research, with Tali and many assistants following baboons on foot from sunrise to sunset every day for months at a time.
By 2008 six of the Peninsula troops had been fully researched by field workers – four by Tali and two by Angela van Doorn. While this kind of data collection is detailed and thorough, its drawback is that it is slow and costly. Given the urgent need for similar information on the remaining unstudied troops, baboon collars were viewed as the best way to gather the final pieces of information in the shortest possible time. This method of data collection is less invasive, less expensive and more time-efficient than having researchers follow animals on a long-term basis. It also allows more than one animal group to be studied at a time when manpower is limited.
The collars form part of a collaborative project between the Baboon Research Unit, the Table Mountain National Park and the Table Mountain Fund (WWF). Back to Africa (an NGO dedicated to returning animals in European zoos back to the African continent) has also played an invaluable role in this project.
What is the information from the collars used for?
About the collars
What are the specs of the collars?
All baboon collars in the Cape Peninsula are made by Africa Wildlife Tracking. Collars are made with the latest in GPS (Global Positioning System) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) technology. The intervals of collar readings can be programmed and adjusted from a remote computer source once the collar has been fitted to the animal, and positions are recorded within a 10m accuracy range. The data from the collar is downloaded from the internet. The battery of the collar will allow a minimum of one year of data to be recorded at the resolution required for home range analyses. The collar contains a VHF-tracking component that can be used in the event of battery failure, or lack of cell phone coverage.
These tracking collars are specifically designed for baboons. They are coloured to blend in with the greyness of baboon fur, making them as inconspicuous as possible. The collar is made out of conveyor belting as this material is strong and durable and will not break or tear. The stitching around the antenna is depressed relative to the surface of the collar and will not break/come loose when the collar rubs against the animal’s skin.
How many baboons have been collared for this research?
During 2008, we collared six baboons in the Cape Peninsula – one representative from each unstudied troop. Five of these animals remain collared, and will do until we have recorded a full year of movement data for them.
What do the collars weigh?
Collars range in mass from 480g to 600g and the animals that we collar range in mass from 25-35kg. Therefore, even for the smaller baboons, the fitted collars constitute less than 5% of total body mass. This mass lies well within the tolerable weight limit (the total weight that can be added to an animal in the form of a transmitter without causing impediment to behaviour, survival or well-being), defined as being 5% or less for mammals and birds.
For more information see White, G & Garrott, R. Analysis of wildlife radio tracking data. New York, Academic Press, 1987 and Kenwar. D, R. Wildlife Radio Tagging. New York, Academic Press, 1987
A collared baboon named Force playing silly buggers with another baboon on the streets of Simon's Town
Do baby baboons wear collars, if not at what age do they start wearing collars?
Only adult and sub-adult baboons wear collars.
How is the collaring done?
To collar a baboon we first have a look at the troop and find a suitable individual (adult male or female). The baboon is either caught in a cage and tranquilized, or tranquilized using a dart-gun. A veterinarian does the darting and tranquilizing to ensure that the correct types and dosages of anaesthetics are used. While asleep the vet monitors the baboon’s health, and the researchers fit the collar to the baboon’s neck, with great care being taken to ensure the collar is neither too tight nor too loose. Once that is done, the vet reverses the anaesthetics and wakes the baboon up. The baboon is then put in a cage to recover and then released back into its troop once it is fully awake.
Is the collaring process dangerous to either the humans or baboons involved?
Collaring any wild animal can be dangerous to both the animal and the people involved. To reduce the risk to all involved, collaring should only be done by people who understand the behaviour of the animal, and can make decisions about how, when and where to catch them. Also, a veterinarian must be present. This team of wildlife professionals ensures that the animals are cared for before, during and after the collaring has happened.
A newly collared baboon will try to take the collar off for about one day after it’s been fitted. But collared baboons quickly become accustomed to their collars and after that first day generally ignore it completely. We have never seen other baboons trying to take the collar off collared baboons.
Has a baboon been found dead or injured because of its collar?
No.
- Collared female, ‘Biscuit’ with her son ‘Crumb’ about a month before her collar was removed. She became pregnant and gave birth to this healthy baby while wearing the collar.
No. The animal is unlikely to remember the collaring event as the vet uses a drug that is a short-term amnesiac. The animals thus suffer from short-term memory loss and has no recollection of the event. This is much the same as when humans have an operation under anaesthetic and are unable to remember it when they wake up. The baboon may be affected initially when it wakes up and feels the collar around its neck for the first time, but after a day or so it becomes used to the collar and continues life as normal.
Do collars affect the behaviour of the collared individual and the behaviour of the troop towards them? (e.g., do mothers react differently to their babies while wearing collars and vice versa?)
No. We have collared both male and female baboons and have never witnessed the troop’s behaviour changing towards them. We studied the behaviour of two adult female baboons in detail. Each female had a baby. One female had a collar, the other one did not. There was no difference between the females in terms of the time spent feeding, resting, socializing or nurturing their babies.
Can baboon monitors collect data instead of collars?
The baboon monitors and the collars do not do the same jobs. The job of the baboon monitors is to make sure that the baboons spend as little time in the urban areas as possible. The collars do not control the baboons or stop them from going anywhere. Instead they record where the troop travels on a daily basis, how quickly the troop travels and how much time the troop spends in different areas. Having this information about all the different troops can help us understand the landscape requirements of the baboons. This understanding can in turn be used to guide the way in which the monitors operate.
Are all baboon collars simply used for research purposes, or are some used directly for management?
In 2009 the collars got the attention of the Simon’s Town Civic Association (STCA) who asked to use BRU’s tracking collar to alert residents when baboons were approaching their residential areas. This collaboration has evolved into an excellent working relationship between BRU and that local community, with the collar information assisting the STCA in their management efforts, and the collars enabling BRU to independently assess the efficacy and impact of the STCA’s baboon management efforts (which to date, have been nothing short of brilliant).
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Remarks of experienced and objective field assistants on impacts of collars on baboons
”I spent January of 2008 studying the Cape Peninsula baboons as part of a spatial ecology project headed by Tali Hoffman of the Baboon Research Unit of the University of Cape Town. Recently, BRU has been met with complaints regarding their use of GPS-tracking collars.
While I was in the Cape Peninsula I spent many hours with the Cape Point group, which includes Winnie, a female with one of the GPS-collars in question. Upon seeing her for the first time I, of course, questioned whether the collar had any impact on her day-to-day life. After spending a month around Winnie, I can definitively say no, the collar does not affect her in any way. I saw her engaging in all the typical baboon behaviours, including grooming and foraging. Interestingly, I never saw her touch or express any interest in or discomfort with the collar.
During my time in the Cape, I came to have a profound respect for the research that BRU is conducting and how that research helps the South African National Parks manage their natural resources, including these baboons. Radio-tracking collars help researchers understand more about the needs of these intriguing animals, which in turn enables the Park Service to better manage them. BRU and the SANPARKS should be applauded for their work with the Cape baboons.”
Darby Proctor, PhD student in animal behavior, Georgia State University
“When you talk of ‘collaring’ an animal, one tends to think of a dog collar – a narrow band of material that fits snugly round the neck and appears to cause dogs no discomfort given than they almost always ignore the collar. It was a surprise therefore, when I first went into the field with UCT’s Baboon Research Unit, to see the collar used as tracking device on the baboon they call Winnie.
The radio collar was, out of necessity, far bulkier than a dog’s collar, with the transmitting device hanging from the underneath and it seemed odd to see such a thing on a wild animal. Most of us would prefer to see wild animals as they might have been centuries ago before humans ever came to this area, with an illusion of undisturbed nature. These animals are disturbed however, and it is the continuing conflict with humans which makes the collars, as well as the rest of the research by the UCT team, so vital.
As I spent time with Winnie and her troop I may have felt that the collar was rather unattractive, but Winnie herself paid it no more attention than most dogs would. During my time with the Baboon Research Unit, each week I spent a couple of full days in close proximity with the troop and never once saw Winnie react to the collar in any way. I did not see her tug at it, get anything caught in it, or act as if it bothered her at all.
I am not an expert in baboon behaviour, but to anyone watching the troop in their day-to-day life this collared female acts no differently from any other baboon in the group.n an ideal world, humans would have no need to interfere with wild animals for the purposes of research. It is inevitable however with the growing human population across the globe that conflicts will arise and thorough, valuable research like that being conducted by scientists from UCT and other organisations is absolutely necessary to protect threatened animals like the baboons of the Cape Peninsula.”
Shamini Bundell
