Hi Maria,

Have you thought about making your own collars? If you you can find a radio-transmitter collar suitable for rhinos it is possible to attach a satellite-download (Globalstar network) GPS receiver that works really well. Details about the hardware can be found in this paper:

“An inexpensive satellite-download GPS receiver for wildlife: Field trial on black swans”

January 2017Wildlife Research 44(7)

DOI10.1071/WR17064

I’ve made similar devices for deer and pigs - really not that difficult. Email me at [email protected] if you want further details.

Hi Todd, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenge in foot collars is the extreme tear and wear they experperience. This seems to be particularly high in rhino. So it is not just the technology per se, it's the fact that needs to be casted in an extremely resistent material to cope with rhino movements and rocky terrain.

Did the devices you deployed on deer and pigs were on foot collars or neck collars?

Hi Maria,

Yes, the GPS receivers were fixed to standard radiocollars that were fitted around the animals’ necks. I haven’t worked with rhinos but imagine that neck collars on them would suffer far less damage than devices fixed to the leg (this could be easily tested on captive animals with ‘mocked up’ units). The hardware costs of the GPS units are trivial (say, < $150 to $200 USD for rhinos). The price of a functionally similar device from a specialist wildlife-tracking company may be as high as $2000 to $3000 USD (I haven’t checked in a while, but that estimate probably isn’t too far off). If you can find an electrician to help, putting the devices together is easy. The GPS units can be mounted in protective (non-metal) boxes and attached to the top (dorsal) side of standard radiocollars (I’ve also used epoxy resin). Batteries for GPS units, which of course can be high capacity given the large size of rhinos, are probably best attached to the bottom of the collar, where the battery for the radio transmitte often is located. If you are looking for a cheap and effective means of tracking your study animals, I would seriously consider this option - you may well be very pleasantly surprised with your results.

Thank you Todd. Unfortunately, due to the way rhinos are shaped (specially white rhino), neck collars are unfeasible (it would fall over the head, as the neck is thicker than the head).

Dear Maria,

please contact us for information, so we can discuss how we can help you: [email protected]

Dear Marco,

Thank you for your reply. We completed the project at the beginning of this year :)

Best,

Maria