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Athreva, V.R.; Odden, M.; Linnell, J.
Using GPS-GSM collars to understand leopard movement in a human dominated landscape in Ahmednagar district, western Maharashtra
2010  Series

GPS-GSM collars (Vectronics Aerospace GPS PLUS) with a Lotek pre-programmed drop-off mechanism were used to five leopards trapped in western Maharashtra. An international SIM card was used to access all available mobile networks. The collar weighed a total of 650g. The caged animals were darted with a blowpipe using ketamine (~5mg/kg) and xylazine (~2mg/kg) for the collaring procedure. Yohimbine (0.14-0.17 mg/kg) was used for hastening the reversal. Positions were obtained between 80 and 350 days for four colalrs, and only three fixes were obtained for one collar. The total numer of positions we obtained ranged from 633 to 3600 per collar. In the case of one collar the bettery drained out in 80 days. Our data colleciton ranged from one GPS location taken every 4 hours to an intensive data collection period when a GPS location was obtained hourly and every five readings were sent as an SMS to the server. The VHF transmitter on the collar aided tracking the animal on the ground. Overall, these collars were found to be light, and the GSM mode of data transfer was very effective at the study site due to good mobile coverage. Even among the translocated animals that used areas with poor mobile network coverage, readings were available when they came int orange. The GPS-GSM system provides a large number of very detailed data and thus provides many unique insights into how secretiv felids such as leopards use the landscape. The minimal time delay in data retrieval permitted sampling the location and prey usage by leopards, within a few hours of their leaving any site. However, the technology is still fraught with technical problems and failures, and expectations must be adjusted accordingly.

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