Some of you may remember us reporting that in 2022 we were trialling advanced tracking technology ear tags on cattle to help alleviate human-wildlife conflict. This collaboration with Texas A&M University saw 20 ear tags placed on 10 cow-calf pairs on the Oasis cattle farm in Ghanzi – a farm that experiences high numbers of calf losses to unknown causes. We hoped that the ear tags would help improve knowledge of the way in which the cattle were using the large paddocks on the farm and how often and for how long mothers were leaving their young calves alone to fend for themselves. These data help us to understand where and when calves are vulnerable to carnivores and helps the farmers improve farm management to protect their most vulnerable livestock. The mOOvement ear tags used in 2022, relied on a LoRen network to transmit data from the ear tags to a base station by the homestead, from which the farmers and CCB staff can view the locations of the cattle in the paddocks in near real-time. Alerts were set if animals did not move for extended periods of time, so that immediate action could be taken if a calf was injured, stolen or killed. Even a mortality alert from the collar can be used productively, as you can identify what killed the animal if you get to the carcass quickly. Most carcasses are not discovered until vultures are seen flying overhead, by which time scavenging jackals and brown hyenas have fed on the carcass, eliminating any signs indicating the cause of death. Correctly identifying causes of death are very important for carnivore conservation, as carnivores sometimes get blamed for livestock deaths that have resulted from other causes like disease, injury, malnutrition and snake bite.
Unfortunately, after many months of troubleshooting the system, the mOOvement ear tags would not work. Investigations as to what hampered the system indicate that the most likely cause of death for the LoRen network was the unexpectedly high-water content in the dense acacia bush on the farms. Determined that the concept of ear tags had huge conflict alleviation potential, the CCB and Texas A&M team set about finding a solution!
In the second week of March 2023, Dr Leslie Ruyle and a team of six students from Texas A&M visited the CCB Ghanzi Camp again, similar to their visit in 2022. The students were a mix of undergraduates and postgraduates from the fields of biology, agricultural sciences, engineering and social sciences. The team brought with them 10 new Ceres satellite ear tags and together with CCB’s research team they were placed on 10 cattle at the same farm. These new tags are satellite based and therefore not obstructed by vegetation and do not require Wi-Fi, cell phone reception or an antenna. These new ear tags send a location update every six hours and have an accelerometer to track cow movement speeds, as well as contract tracing to see interactions between cattle (which can be useful to track how closely cows protect their calves). We are very relieved and overjoyed that the new system is running perfectly and the farm owners and managers are thrilled at the new information the system provides. We are tracking carnivore-related conflict on the farm to see how these new ear tags work at improving knowledge about livestock and how that, in turn affects conflict levels with carnivores.
Unfortunately, after many months of troubleshooting the system, the mOOvement ear tags would not work. Investigations as to what hampered the system indicate that the most likely cause of death for the LoRen network was the unexpectedly high-water content in the dense acacia bush on the farms. Determined that the concept of ear tags had huge conflict alleviation potential, the CCB and Texas A&M team set about finding a solution!
In the second week of March 2023, Dr Leslie Ruyle and a team of six students from Texas A&M visited the CCB Ghanzi Camp again, similar to their visit in 2022. The students were a mix of undergraduates and postgraduates from the fields of biology, agricultural sciences, engineering and social sciences. The team brought with them 10 new Ceres satellite ear tags and together with CCB’s research team they were placed on 10 cattle at the same farm. These new tags are satellite based and therefore not obstructed by vegetation and do not require Wi-Fi, cell phone reception or an antenna. These new ear tags send a location update every six hours and have an accelerometer to track cow movement speeds, as well as contract tracing to see interactions between cattle (which can be useful to track how closely cows protect their calves). We are very relieved and overjoyed that the new system is running perfectly and the farm owners and managers are thrilled at the new information the system provides. We are tracking carnivore-related conflict on the farm to see how these new ear tags work at improving knowledge about livestock and how that, in turn affects conflict levels with carnivores.
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