A trial of satellite GPS telemetry on feral pigs in tropical mountain rainforest

We deployed two GPS collars and one innovative harness-mounted GPS backpack with Iridium or Globalstar satellite data transmission on feral pigs in mountain rainforest with deep valleys in New Caledonia during the hot wet season. Both collar and backpack with Iridium transmission achieved high success rates of locations and the rate increased with decreasing interval length between locations. The collar with Globalstar transmission had very low fix rates at 13-h intervals and was insufficient to produce robust results. The backpack harness was still functional after 20 months of use and proved to be a reliable alternative to collars.

Automated summary

In this study, we deployed GPS collars and a harness-mounted GPS backpack with Iridium or Globalstar data transmission to feral pigs in the mountain rainforest of New Caledonia during the hot wet season. Both the Iridium-transmitted collar and backpack achieved high success rates of locations, which increased with shorter intervals. The Globalstar-transmitted collar had a very low fix rate at 13-hour intervals and was insufficient for robust results. The backpack harness remained functional after 20 months and proved to be a reliable alternative to collars.