Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Innovative “burr on fur” trackers now allow for the effective monitoring of male and subadult polar bears, bypassing the limitations of collar-based systems and improving wildlife research and management.
A multi-institutional research team led by York University and including the University of Alberta, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Manitoba Sustainable Development, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Polar Bears International, used three different “burr on fur” prototypes to study their effectiveness.
New tracking technology offers a breakthrough in studying male and subadult polar bears, enhancing conservation efforts and data accuracy. Credit: Kt-Miller, Polar Bear InternationalStudying polar bears is a difficult feat with current radio collars only suitable to be used on female bears leaving out a swath of the population, but new technology is providing researchers with a new tool that has confirmed the behavior of adult male polar bears while on land waiting for the ice to form again.
York University Professor Greg Thiemann tagging a polar bear. Credit: York University researcher Tyler Ross, Polar Bear InternationalThe ear tag and “Burr on Fur” devices fill an important niche for scientists and wildlife managers. The new tags allow researchers to follow the movements of adult male and subadult polar bears, two groups that can’t be studied using traditional satellite collars.
The top-performing fur tag was the SeaTrkr Tag, which remained attached to the bears for an average of 58 days and had superior accuracy due to its use of GPS/Iridium technology. In second place, the Trishbrush Tags remained attached for an average of 47 days. However, for the Tribrush Tag, the times varied widely, with one falling off after only two days while another lasted 114 days – the longest of all the tags.
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