Image of CritterCam Source: National Geographic
CritterCam Technology
CritterCam is an innovative technological tool that allows humans to study animals without interference. Safely worn by wildlife, CritterCams capture video, sound, and other information, allowing humans to track the movements through the "eyes" of the animal. Developed by National Geographic Society in 1990, CritterCam helps scientsits learn about the behavior of animals and provides data on how best to proceed with conservation efforts.
CritterCam has given insight into the lives of 40 different marine species, such as whales, sharks, seals and sea lions, sea turtles, penguins, manatees, and other marine animals. In 2002 the first prototype of a terrestrial Crittercam (designed for land animals) survived its maiden voyage on a wild African lion and can now be found on grizzly bears and hyenas. The instrument does not harm the animal and has been tested to show that it does not interfere with the daily movement and behavior of the creature. By utilizing GPS technology, scientists can track the animal and retrieve the camera when the observation period has ended.
CritterCam technology has played an important role in understanding the animals in both the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Read on to see how this emerging technology is being utilized in Africa!
The Great White Sharks
Dyer Island, Gansbaii, South Africa, is the site for the great white shark CritterCam deployment. National Geographic, in conjunction with the University of South Africa at Cape Town, set out to research the hunting behavior of white sharks near seal colonies. This research project taught scientists more about how to get the equipment attached to the sharks! During attachment attempts, sharks smaller than nine feet (three meters) in length tended to flinch and swim away. Larger sharks, however, showed minimal or no reaction to the equipment. The CritterCam showed the great whites cruisng Dyer Channel, swimming up to and among seals and investigating floating objects like seaweed. Interestingly, the sharks seemed to prefer cruising at either bottom or surface, not mid-water. Tracking the movement and depth-preference for the great white would not have been possible with out CritterCam technology.
Lions on the Laikipia Plateau, Kenya
The high plateaus of northern Kenya mean that direct observations of the animals are hard to make. But there is some urgency to studying and understanding the dynamics of this ecosystem—specifically, why lions have begun to break into corrals and kill the cattle inside. The people of this region are poor and their cattle are their only means of making a living. Why have the lions suddenly started doing this? How has their habitat changed? What steps might people take to dissuade them? This is where CritterCam technology can be of great assistance.
Image of CritterCam Source: National Geographic
The Laikipia plateau of East Africa is a patchwork of extensive open commercial ranches owned by settlers interspersed with communal lands occupied by indigenous tribespeople. It is one of the few places in the world where wildlife and livestock co-exist. So one of the project's biggest challenges is figuring out how to end depredation by lions at bomas, the corrals constructed by thorny branches to keep livestock in and wildlife out. The mere presence of a lion can cause livestock to panic, busting open the boma and availing themselves as dinner. Herders then get revenge by killing the lion.
With CritterCam, scientists hope to learn what causes the livestock to panic in the presence of a lion, whether it is the feline scent or roar, or some other factor. It is critical to provide farmers and wildlife managers sound advice on how wildlife and livestock can live together, before the lion population is significantly diminished and the farmers lose their livelihood.
