Is There an Ethical Problem with Child GPS Tracking?

The smaller GPS trackers become, the greater their potential to become a legal football, passed between lawmakers and the judicial system of our country. We’ve already seen this battle begun in the contexts of law enforcement and employer-employee relations, and some people believe the next big GPS argument will center on tracking family members.

GPS Can Undoubtedly Save Vulnerable Lives

A tiny GPS tracker can give worried family members a way to secretly, unobtrusively, and safely monitor each other’s locations. The person being tracked could be a child headed to preschool for the first time; a preteen with unpredictable actions due to autism; a teenager who might be tempted to misuse the family car; a spouse who is suspected of cheating; or an elderly parent with dementia. Clearly, some of these situations are ethically questionable, but it is hard to argue with a person’s right to track their children or vulnerable elderly parents.

For a moment, let’s set aside the question of tracking people to catch them doing something wrong. Instead, let’s focus on safety-related tracking. Across the U.S. and in developed countries around the world, local police forces are encouraging people to start using GPS trackers with their children and seniors. Each time a senior wanders from home or an autistic child disappears from their house, police devote time and manpower toward finding them. If they could simply follow the tracker’s signal, they could find the missing person immediately—or the family could do the same and avoid contacting the police altogether.

Why Object?

Some groups are pushing back against the use of GPS trackers even for safety purposes. Admittedly, this is a small movement—most people acknowledge that it is fully ethical for a family to monitor the activity of its vulnerable members, even without their consent. However, the objectors look ahead to potential problems that could arise, such as:

• Tracking a senior who does not have dementia, thereby infringing on his privacy


• Monitoring the activity of an adult child without their knowledge


• Tracking a child who has been placed in the custody of someone else by the state

The objections to potential issues should not dissuade families who believe that GPS tracking can protect those they love who are in danger of wandering off. Time is one of the most critical factors when trying to recover a missing person, especially in extreme temperatures or bad weather. A GPS signal dramatically reduces the amount of time needed to track down a wanderer, not to mention the number of searchers needed.

Other Purposes

It’s easier to understand the objections that people raise when the purpose for tracking another person is questionable. In recent years, U.S. judges have ruled on a number of cases:

Year	Court	Question at Issue	Verdict
2012	U.S. Supreme Court	Can police track a suspected criminal without his knowledge?	Not without a search warrant
2013	New York State Court of Appeals	Can an employer track an employee without his knowledge to find out if he is lying about working?	Not if the tracking extends beyond work hours
2009	Court of Appeal of California	Can the state track a juvenile offender while on probation?	Yes
2011	New Jersey Appellate Court	Can a wife secretly place a tracker in her husband’s car?	Yes, but complicating factors could affect legality

In general, people should be careful about secretly tracking spouses, adult children, relatives, and acquaintances who themselves have a right to privacy. And they should always remember that, if they are tracking someone in order to try to gain evidence against them in court, that evidence will probably be thrown out unless it is supported by a search warrant. There is even a possibility that the defendant in such a case would turn it around and sue the plaintiff for breach of privacy.

The Horizon of GPS Tracking for Safety

While courts and lawmakers work to determine exactly where the line between legal and illegal tracking lies, it seems clear that GPS tracking products for keeping vulnerable people safe will become more common, smaller, and easier to use. Additional features that could help accomplish this goal include an alert system that would notify family members if the individual crossed a designated boundary; miniature trackers that could be embedded in eyeglasses or clothing; and linked communication devices that could allow family members to speak to the individual as soon as they begin wandering away.

As in many areas of family life, open communication can defuse many of the potential privacy problems with GPS tracking. A teen who knows the family car is equipped with a GPS tracker is likely to drive it responsibly. Children who know their parents are watching their cell phone location signal will probably not take side trips on their way home from school. And an honest conversation with an elderly loved one may be enough to convince her that that wearing a GPS tracker will help keep her safe, even if she does not suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Is There an Ethical Problem with Child GPS Tracking?

GPS Technology Used In IBM Smarter Cities Initiative

Anyone who’s lived in a big city, or just had experience traveling to or through one, knows that traffic can be difficult. GPS navigation systems have helped many travelers get from point to point, but it’s not much help during rush hour or if there’s been an accident on the highway. IBM is developing a Smarter Cities Initiative, using GPS tracking and other technology, to help improve traffic conditions in cities. “Given real time traffic conditions, we can predict what up to the next 60 minutes of traffic will look like in different parts of the network,” explained Naveen Lamba, associate partner and Smart Transport leader in IBM’s Global Business Services.

The story was first reported by Bert Latamore at the Silicon Angle blog. “One of the areas that we’re focussing on is treating the whole network as one integrated multimodal system instead of trying to optimize each mode on its own, which is how it’s done today,” Lamba said. “If there’s an accident on the road, can the transit system do something to alleviate that situation? For example, advising travelers to park and switch to public transportation where feasible. They can switch to a train and so on, and vice versa.”

“There are multiple solutions, and as many of them as you can deploy, you’ll be that much better off,” Lamba said. “Each city is unique in itself and has very specific needs… Most cities start with a specific problem to gain some efficiencies. It’s up to the city whether they want a cloud-based or hosted solutions, some of which depends on their existing infrastructure.”

“What we found is many cities have solutions that advise travelers of arrival and departure times on the bus stop, for example, the next bus will arrive in 12 minutes. And that counter will keep going down as the bus gets closer. But what ends up happening is those 12 minutes may take 18 minutes to tick down to zero if the bus got delayed at some point in its route, or may continue to show an arrival time of x number of minutes even if the bus has already arrived. This is what contributes to traveler frustration and a lack of trust in the system. To regain that trust is very hard. By increasing the arrival time accuracy, traveler satisfaction is improved.”

IBM’s Smart Cities Initiative has already been tested in a number of large cities around the world, including Dublin, Ireland. “In Dublin, solutions are being deployed continually, but the rate of increase in cars and traffic has continued to grow pretty fast. By the time a solution is deployed, traffic has outpaced those deployments. So it’s hard to measure improvements because by the time you implement a vertical type of solution, you’er not dealing with the same traffic you were when you started that solution.”

In the U.S., the trend of traffic conditions is actually going in the opposite direction. “Traffic is actually tapering off,” Lamba said of traffic conditions in the U.S.. “This allows you to deploy solutions and actually see some benefit out of it.” Although it might be hard to notice in places like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City, fewer people are commuting using personal vehicles. This makes testing different traffic improvement systems a lot easier.

“Analytics-based, data-driven technology platforms can help cities provide a higher level of service to their citizens while either keeping costs the same or actually even lowering them. We think it’s not going to be a choice. Cities will almost be forced into it because the demands on the city’s physical infrastructure are going to continue to increase as more and more people move to cities. In order to meet that demand, the physical infrastructure footprint is going to increase very slowly, so you have to use approaches like the Smarter Cities approach to be able to handle the higher demand.”

“There are also going to be sensors on the physical infrastructure itself. For example, an intersection would always know how many vehicles are approaching from which direction at what speed and would continually optimize the green signal timing so that the throughput through the intersection is maximized at all times.” Lamba added.

“The computing power, the analytics power, is greater than it has ever been,” Lamba explained. “The question is how you harness that capability to get the most out of existing assets that we have. How do you leverage all the data that’s out there and make quick actionable decisions that can improve the efficiency of a system? The goal is to adopt analytics-based solutions with a net effect similar to adding a lane to a highway, for example, but at a much lower price point and a much shorter period of time.”

GPS Technology Used In IBM Smarter Cities Initiative

GPS Devices Aid in Thwarting Bicycle Theft

Bicycle theft is sometimes viewed by the public at large—and, unfortunately, sometimes by law enforcement agencies themselves—as a sort of “lesser crime.” While everyone would agree bicycle theft isn’t on the same level of crime as physical assault, bank robbery, or even car theft, it should not be dismissed as an unimportant or insignificant crime. For many people, a bicycle represents a significant investment of money, and it is often not merely a recreational vehicle but someone’s primary means of transportation.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in the 14 years following 1996 sales of bicycles in this country increased by nearly 20 percent. Why are bikes becoming increasingly popular? A number of factors contribute to it:

• Americans’ growing concerns over the environment and desire to reduce their carbon footprint as well as to reduce noise pollution


• Americans’ frustration with congested traffic


• People’s needs to exercise to reduce weight and lower their risk of heart disease and other health risks

While most people would agree that riding a bicycle is a good idea for many people, some people refrain from purchasing a bike because they are concerned that it may be stolen. Stolen bikes are often not reported. And they’re often not recovered. However, GPS technology is starting to change all of that.

Using GPS-Enabled Bikes as “Bait”

Police forces in locations in England, Canada, and the United States have instituted programs that use bicycles that are covertly equipped with GPS technology in order to apprehend bicycle thieves. Bikes that are GPS equipped can be continuously tracked from a central location as they move throughout an urban area, allowing police officers to apprehend thieves with the stolen item, catching them “red-handed.”

Generally these systems work the same way: police officers leave a GPS-equipped bicycle locked, but not very securely locked, in an obvious location and monitor their GPS screens from a remote location. Not only does this allow them to catch bike thieves, but it also provides additional data about crime patterns, the thief’s habitual haunts, and has led, in some cases, to the apprehension of criminals wanted for crimes much more serious than bicycle theft.

Virginia Tech: A Case Study

College campuses are popular places for bicycles—young students are often in good physical shape and enjoy riding them from the residence halls to classroom buildings, to the dining hall, and so on. Campuses can be too small to conveniently drive a car from here to there (and parking is nearly always a challenge on campus), but walking may take too much time or be too physically taxing. And, of course, a bicycle is a far more cost-efficient mode of transportation than is a car. All these reasons contribute to the popularity of bikes as a mode of campus transportation.

Unfortunately, the proliferation of bicycles on campuses also leads to increased problems with bicycle theft. In order to combat the problem, Virginia Tech’s on-campus police instituted a “bait-bike” program in 2013, using GPS-enabled bicycles. These bikes look like any other student bicycle and are mixed in with students’ bikes at bike racks across campus.

Virginia Tech (VT) has only one police officer for every 300 students, so being able to remotely track a stolen item has appeal for the force. Campus police recommend that students do the following to deter bike theft:

• Register the bike on campus


• Memorize or keep a copy of the bike’s serial number


• Use a high quality bike lock

VT campus police note that, as of September 2013, no one had actually stolen a GPS-equipped bait bike. But they credit the fact that fewer bikes have been stolen in 2013 than were in 2012, at least in part to the fact that the bait-bike program is widely known on campus. The program itself is an effective deterrent to theft.

Campus police also note that bike thieves are often repeat offenders and may have several bikes in their possession when they are apprehended. Other thieves, though, are not habitual offenders but may be merely “lazy students” looking for a quick ride across campus. They may not view their activities as “stealing” but as “borrowing without permission.” However, as far as campus security and the bicycle owners are concerned, “borrowing without permission” constitutes theft and can result in the loss of the bicycle to the owner and a significant financial burden to him—and prosecution for the perpetrator.

Larger-scale operations, such as construction companies and city vehicle fleets, could benefit from the same theft prevention strategy. Simply putting up notifications that GPS trackers are installed on vehicles may be enough to prompt potential thieves to move along in search of a different target instead of helping themselves to a new ride.

GPS Devices Aid in Thwarting Bicycle Theft

GPS Protected Public Transportation

Many of the American universities with long-standing reputations now reside landlocked within America’s cities, in areas that have been built up around the spreading institutions—only to move on and leave them behind as time goes on and economics fluctuate. GPS protection in many forms has already become common on campuses, the next step that naturally followed the security many felt with the mere ownership of a cell phone.

GPS Protection Projects

Some of the most effective GPS protective measures have focused on minors and the vulnerable. Common use of GPS for protection include a wide variety of devices and applications but all share the same goal and purpose.

GPS Device	Participant	Purpose
Chips in collars	Pets	Finding and retrieving lost pets before they come to harm
Tags and locators	Children	Ensuring safety while traveling to and from school or while in a crowd
Wristbands	Lone adventurers	Providing freedom for exploration with safety

The success of these various projects continues to inspire continued brainstorming on expanding uses for GPS to provide safety in a culture that seems increasingly dangerous and threatening. One logical expansion of this idea of safety and protection covers the vulnerability of college students attending universities in now dangerous parts of growing—or shrinking—cities.

GPS at Georgetown University

Already implemented in Georgetown earlier this year, a GPS app for the shuttle transportation NextGUTS has been successful in providing more accurate information to students and motorists in the surrounding area. Safety benefits of this system—as well as the many others that are being implemented across the country and around the world—include the following:

• Precise timing for meeting buses


• Accurate information for escorts


• More information for travel time

While these benefits are helpful for daytime services, Georgetown has recently realized that they are even more necessary for their nighttime service, SafeRide.

Already reflecting a concern for students out at night, Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety has decided to take another step toward providing students with much-needed protection in an area that has had over 290 reported crimes in the past two months.

Expanding GPS Benefits

Acknowledged by the Chief of Police and by several student advisory boards, the particular danger of nighttime transportation for college students studying and living in areas with high crime rates lies in the seclusion often experienced while waiting for even a reliable and much used services such as SafeRide. With the new app and GPS tracking program implemented for the nighttime service, students can access information using:

• Websites


• iPhones


• Androids

The precise information regarding the location of the service and the arrival time allows students to follow the instructions they’ve been given to wait in a safe and secure place—and still meet the transportation service when it arrives.

Improving GPS Protection

As universities, cities, counties, and individuals continue to apply GPS technology to increased protection, flexibility in the systems and applications seems absolutely necessary for improvements to be made on a continual basis. Some of the main features needed for any new implementation of GPS protection include soliciting and responding to feedback from users. Some of the suggestions already received from Georgetown students are in the process of implementation by Georgetown’s department of public safety:

Suggestion	Purpose
Eliminate phone call through the expanded use of the app	More efficient contact
Message generation from driver	Immediate notification of pick-up time

 

GPS App for Prime Protection

With the GPS tracking app for SafeRide and NextGUTS easily available for download from the iOS App Store or Google Play, students at Georgetown experience an immediate increase in safety on the streets. Using the inherent updating ability of apps in general, these GPS tracking apps enable continued improvements to current systems like those being used at Georgetown—and increasing opportunities for those looking to increase security.

The team at Georgetown has committed to providing updates and improvements on a regular basis as the app continues to be used by those who already keep SafeRide busy, providing over 1,000 rides a week to students concerned for their safety in a crime-heavy area.

Private Development of GPS Apps for Personalized Protection

As officials at Georgetown demonstrate, privatized development of specific apps opens great possibilities for the application of GPS technology to safety and protection. With possibilities as broad and wide as the limits of imagination, GPS apps can be created for customized needs of students in multiple communities.

But the application doesn’t just stop with students; as people in general become aware of the amazing access to immediate information and contact through GPS apps, apps tapping into this resource may just begin to explode.

With a touch of the screen, students in Georgetown—and perhaps soon kids on any given street—can call for immediate help in unsafe circumstances using GPS technology at their fingertips.

GPS Protected Public Transportation

Filling In the GPS Gaps

When a system like GPS becomes extremely popular and widespread in a short amount of time, it is easy to focus on its abilities. There are so many ways that GPS enhances our daily lives that we aren’t even aware of all of them. We take it for granted that we can tell our dashboard navigator where we want to go and it will lead us to the doorstep, however remote it might be. We assume that our smartphone will orient us in our precise location and direction, pointing us toward a new restaurant we want to try. But sometimes we come up against a shortcoming that takes us by surprise. If your destination is in deep in an urban area, for example, you might find your navigator getting confused. And as soon as you walk inside that new restaurant, your smartphone is likely to forget completely where you are. These GPS gaps are the next frontier for some groundbreaking technology developers.

An Example from Sports

Football teams across the U.S. have adopted GPS as a powerful training tool. A transmitter attached to a player’s jersey records a dizzying amount of data during practice, which helps coaches keep track of each player’s distance, average speed, and other important statistics. This routine has provided immense benefits on the practice field, but typical sports arenas are a global positioning system’s worst nightmare. The playing field is surrounded by high walls that interrupt a transmitter’s signal unless the satellite is directly overhead. Some stadiums even have retractable roofs that close during poor weather, cutting off access to satellites altogether. Is there a solution for coaches who want to gather activity data during games and stadium practice sessions?

The Locata Corporation has one. This Australia-based company focuses on the gaps in GPS coverage—indoor, urban, and other difficult areas. Their products also promise “backup” service in the event of a GPS failure. Locata has developed the following products, among others:

• An indoor locator that mimics GPS navigation for indoor vehicle crash testing


• A network that allows Air Force planes to navigate near their base even when GPS signal is intentionally jammed


• A gold mine navigation system


• “Safety net” navigation system in Sydney Harbor, providing accurate location signal in case GPS fails


• Athlete recording system that works within stadiums and indoor arenas

Not Global, but Local

Although users will inevitably refer to indoor positioning systems as “GPS,” they function using totally different technology. Instead of communicating with satellites above the earth, transmitters and receivers will connect with devices strategically placed around the designated area. This area could be as small as a floor of an office building or as large as Sydney Harbor.

The Locata Corporation hopes to gain a reputation as the world’s leader in local positioning technology. Here are the highlights of the company’s development thus far:

1994	Locata Corporation is founded
1997	Locata turns focus toward filling “GPS gaps”
2012	Contract with U.S. Air Force to construct positioning network at White Sands Missile Range

In order to fit as closely as possible with existing positioning technology, Locata hopes to build transmitters and receivers that will work seamlessly with GPS. In theory, a device such as a smartphone could use GPS when it is available, then switch to an indoor positioning network when necessary—all without the user being aware of the change. The devices built by Locata are still large and expensive, but the company’s founder anticipates that they will follow the example of GPS devices and quickly shrink in physical size and price. Before too many years are past, even the gaps in GPS coverage may disappear.

Getting Around the Stadium

Athletes, their coaches, and training staff members aren’t the only people who could benefit from a local positioning network inside a sports arena. Gift vendors, food stands, first aid stations, and restrooms are all ideal candidates for quick location by spectators, although GPS in its current form is not up to the task when an overhead roof is involved. Even finding your seats may someday be a simple matter of following an arrow on your smartphone display, just as you do when driving your car.

One major drawback, at least at first, is the fact that Locata’s system must be installed on an individual basis. Each shopping mall, stadium, skyscraper, and airport would have to invest in its own system, and it could be quite some time before the idea catches on sufficiently to serve users on a large scale. It may be that we are in for a technology race between two ideas: the local positioning network and a smaller, simpler device that could extend traditional GPS into indoor areas. The first invention to gain widespread use will certainly reap incredible benefits for its producers as it fills in those troublesome “GPS gaps.”

Filling In the GPS Gaps

Facilitate Your Next Conference with GPS Tracking

As GPS tracking becomes increasingly more precise, it’s getting easier to implement the technology in smaller venues and for more specific applications. For instance, retailers, museums, trade shows, and other business models have already begun using GPS-based applications to allow customers and visitors to check in, receive special offers, and identify relevant information based on location. Indoor GPS tracking is becoming more feasible as big-name companies like Apple have announced plans for specific apps designed to facilitate business interaction with consumers. For conference organizers, the technology opens numerous possibilities for creating more memorable experiences for attendees and for allowing vendors to better interact with potential contacts.

Conference-Friendly Apps

Indoor GPS applications are just becoming viable for commercial use. Rather than being aimed at consumers, most of the apps are designed for retailers, businesses, and vendors to interact with their customer and client bases better. Specifically, conference organizers and vendors can implement apps like these to improve the conference experience:

• iBeacons—In June of 2013, Apple announced plans for its new iBeacons app. The app will enable businesses to track Bluetooth devices within a region (such as a conference center) and to determine specific ranges and locations within that region. iBeacons will let vendors know when attendees are near a specific booth, allowing them to target specific messages such as information about the next speaker or breakout session, vendor giveaways, and navigation aids. The technology could also be used for easy check-in by identifying registered participants.


• Phunware—Phunware also announced indoor location capabilities this year. Their location services are aimed at businesses and are designed to elicit responses from the target audience. As a conference app, this could be modified to encourage attendees to interact with one another and with vendors.


• Topi—Designed specifically for events, Topi enables the conference organizer to create a targeted geographic area using geofencing. Conference personnel can interact with attendees within that area, creating a more personalized and social conference experience.

 

GPS Tracking App	Features
iBeacons	Indoor regional mapping Bluetooth device tracking User identification and interaction
Phunware	Interactive applications User identification Indoor mapping and navigation
Topi	Geofencing capability User interaction Indoor mapping

As indoor GPS tracking apps become more widely available, it will be easier for conference planners to choose which app offers the specific functionalities they need. It’s feasible that much of the paperwork involved with registration, check-in, and conference participation could be reduced or replaced by GPS tracking-enabled applications.

Conference Uses for GPS Tracking

The apps above and others like them offer a wide range of options for conference planners. GPS tracking capabilities will give organizers the ability to offer the following services to vendors, speakers, and conference attendees:

• Conference check-in—Apps like iBeacons recognize users based on a Bluetooth device. Registered users could gain instant access to buildings and conference facilities based on the device they carry. Added security measures could require a fingerprint or QR code scan.


• Location-based messaging—GPS tracking apps can recognize the location of any individual, enabling location-specific messaging from vendors and organizers. For instance, an attendee who walks through the conference center could receive a message from organizers about the next breakout session or scheduled event. Vendors could send coupons, welcome messages, and other relevant messages to people who walk by their booths.


• Networking—A primary purpose for many conference attendees is networking with others in their field. GPS tracking apps could create real-time chat options based on who is in a particular session or who is standing at a certain booth. This would also create possibilities for people in different cities or at different conference locations to meet and interact based on shared interests and needs.


• Data—Conference organizers can track attendee movements in order to determine which areas of the conference are visited most often, which sessions have the highest attendance at any given time, and which booths receive the most traffic.

As more software developers recognize the broad range of usage possibilities for indoor GPS mapping and tracking, we can expect to see more apps popping up to handle conference-type uses. The best part is that both conference organizers and attendees can take that information with them to facilitate long-term interaction and networking, long after the conference has ended. And of course, that same technology can be used by businesses and retailers to interact with their clients and customers based on location or shopping habits.

GPS tracking has come a long way from its military-based usage roots. Today, the technology touches our lives in multiple ways every time we walk out the door. And by providing better and more accurate data, GPS apps will give both businesses and consumers the information they need to make better marketing and buying decisions, facilitate better use of their time, and gather the data they need to streamline their daily workloads.

Facilitate Your Next Conference with GPS Tracking

Nepal Uses GPS Tracking in Snow Leopard Study

We’ve reported a couple of stories at RMT, involving tracking wolves with GPS technology in the United States. Wolves once roamed this country quite freely. They could be found all across the nation. Their current numbers are far lower than they once were, mainly due to them being hunted by humans. The Californian brown bear and all buffalo in the U.S., for example, were hunted to complete extinction. An animal you might see in Yellowstone National Park that looks a lot like a buffalo, is actually a bison. You will not see a buffalo in the United States.

The major reason that wolves are such a target for hunters is that wolves can’t seem to resist the easy prey livestock pose. Farmers, and communities that relied on the success of the farms, took to their guns to defend their food and income sources. In the same way wolves are a threat to farmers in the United States, snow leopards in Nepal also enjoy the easy prey provided by livestock. Fortunately, wolf conservation efforts saved the species before it could be wiped out, and similar efforts are under way to help protect the snow leopards of Nepal.

“Nepal’s Himalayas are a rich mosaic of pristine habitat, freshwater and wildlife species including the iconic snow leopard,” Anil Manandhar said, from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Nepal. “The success of the collaring expedition opens up new frontiers in snow leopard conservation as well as new avenues to profile Nepal as a living laboratory to help build on international collaboration in conservation science.”

WWF Global recently published a press release to update the public on the GPS tracking success. WWF originally stood for World Wildlife Fund, but after the scope of what they were funding expanded, they decided the old name no longer fit. Since then, the organization has changed its name to the World Wide Fund for Nature, but it is typically still referred to as WWF. They have been instrumental in the GPS tracking program’s success in Nepal.

“The snow leopard conservation program has given the local communities the opportunity to build their own capacities in snow leopard monitoring,” explained Himali Chungda Sherpa, Chairperson of the Snow Leopard Conservation Committee-Ghunsa. “This is further aiding the overall understanding amongst the local communities on the importance of protecting the species thereby building on our commitment towards snow leopard conservation.”

Researchers in Nepal have been tracking snow leopards for decades, using VHF technology and camera traps. For the first time, a snow leopard will be tracked with a GPS tracking collar. The study is lead by the Government of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, with assistance from the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council/Snow Leopard Conservation Committee-Ghunsa, WWF Nepal and the National Trust for Nature Conservation.

“Snow leopards are highly elusive creatures and given the terrains they reside in, monitoring work on the species is a highly challenging task,” explained Narendra Man Babu Pradhan, Coordinator for Development for Research and Monitoring at WWF Nepal. “While past studies on the snow leopard have been limited to areas that are accessible to people, this technology will help provide important information on the ecology and behavior of the wide ranging snow leopard.”

It took the expedition team 45 days to track and capture the snow leopard, before they could attach a GPS collar to the wild cat. They collared a 5-year-old male, named Ghanjenzunga. The big cat is nearly 6.5 feet (2 meters) long from head to tail, and approximately 88 pounds (40 kg). It was released in to the wild on November 25th, 2013 at 10:45 a.m.. The cat was not harmed while capturing, collaring and releasing it. Ghanjenzunga will be tracked for the next 2 years. Researchers will collect data on how the cat relates to its habitat and monitor interactions with human territory.

“The snow leopard collaring is indeed a new win for Nepal,” Megh Bahadur Pandy said, director general of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. “It reiterates the commitment of the government to strengthen measures to better understand and protect the snow leopard whose survival is under threat from anthropogenic and the pervasive impacts of global climate change.”

In order to understand how to protect a species, especially an elusive species like the snow leopard, more information is needed. It took this team 45 days to fit one wild cat with a GPS collar, so you can imagine the time and effort needed to attempt to study this species. With GPS technology, wildlife can be monitored from a distance. We can gather real time information about the animals’ location preferences  and behavior. With this technology, conservation efforts have a real fighting chance of creating a world where wild predators and humans can co-exist with minimal interference.

Nepal Uses GPS Tracking in Snow Leopard Study