Kiawah Island Biologists Tracking Bobcats With GPS Devices

Kiawah Island, South Carolina, is a beautiful region. The natural beauty of the island has been preserved and it’s become a popular resort destination for tennis and golf lovers. The preserved natural beauty of the island means there are plenty of trees, bushes and other natural habitats for wildlife. Because of this, Kiawah Island has also become a great place for biologists to study wildlife. For example, researchers have been tracking wild bobcats on the island with GPS technology for about seven years.  

“We have got about 30 to 35 here on the island. They are doing very well out here,” said Jim Jordan, a Kiawah Island biologist. “These radio collars have a GPS that communicates with the satellites and comes up with their location. They also have a VHF transmitter, which VHF stands for very high frequency, and each collar has its own unique frequency and so using a directional antenna and a radio receiver we can dial into that specific collar and then basically figure out where the strongest signal is and now the direction and approximate distance to the animal.”

The team currently has attached GPS tracking collars to six bobcats on the island. “We have got all the collars we need to basically rotate these collars from year to year, get new batteries put in them, the cost isn’t that expensive and it doesn’t take a lot of labor on our part,” Jordan explained. The Kiawah Island bobcats tend to live 5 to 8 years, but some live as long as 10 years.

By using GPS technology, the biologists can gather more and more information about the bobcats and how they relate to their environment. The study has already provided information about the local population’s average lifespan. Monitoring bobcats can help us better understand the wildlife, and hopefully intervene and protect them should they face any immediate threats.

Kiawah Island Biologists Tracking Bobcats With GPS Devices