First known satellite collaring of a viverrid species: preliminary performance and implications of GPS tracking Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga) (pdf)

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First known satellite collaring of a viverrid species: preliminary performance and implications of GPS tracking Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga)

Ecol Res (2016) 31: 475–481 DOI 10.1007/s11284-016-1338-y TECHNICAL REPORT Meaghan N. Evans • Sergio Guerrero-Sanchez Mohd Soﬃan Abu Bakar • Peter Kille Benoit Goossens First known satellite collaring of a viverrid species: preliminary performance and implications of GPS tracking Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga) Received: 28 July 2015 / Accepted: 26 January 2016 / Published online: 20 February 2016 The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract The application of advanced technologies to the study of little-known species is a necessary step in generating eﬀective conservation strategies. Despite the biological importance of the small carnivore guild, a paucity of data exists in terms of the spatial ecology of these species, largely due to logistical constraints of large and bulky collar units. This study reports the ﬁrst known satellite collaring of a viverrid, the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Stationary tests of two generations of 65–70 g e-obs GmbH ‘Collar 1A’ units recorded high ﬁx success rates and good accuracy and precision under semi-open canopy. From October 2013–August 2015, nine adult V. tangalunga were ﬁt with e-obs collars recording hourly nocturnal GPS locations. Collars were successfully deployed for 27–187 days. Field GPS ﬁx success varied from 22 to 88.3 %, with the study documenting a total GPS success of 58.1 % across all individuals. Despite this large in-ﬁeld performance range, the quality and quantity of data collected by these units surpass that of previous VHF studies on Asian viverrids, collecting on average a 16-fold increase in locations per collaring day. The successful application of satellite technology to these little-known carnivores carries signiﬁcant biological and conservation implications, and it is recommended that satellite collars are a viable technology to M. N. Evans (&) Æ S. Guerrero-Sanchez Æ P. Kille Æ B. Goossens Organisms and Environment Division, Cardiﬀ School of Biosciences, Cardiﬀ University, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiﬀ CF10 3AX, UK E-mail: Tel.: 60 (0)16 880-6557 M. N. Evans Æ S. Guerrero-Sanchez Æ B. Goossens Danau Girang Field Centre, c/o Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, Block B, 5th Floor, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia M. S. A. Bakar Æ B. Goossens Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, Block B, 5th Floor, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia conduct detailed and well-designed ecological studies of Viverridae species. Keywords GPS collar Æ Satellite Æ Viverridae Æ Viverra tangalunga Æ Spatial ecology Introduction Global biodiversity loss is progressing at increasingly alarming rates (Schipper et al. 2008; Barnosky et al. 2011; Ceballos et al. 2015; Ripple et al. 2015). To mitigate further loss, eﬀective conservation management plans are critical, which in turn require in-depth understandings of species’ biological requirements (Margules and Pressey 2000; Chetkiewicz et al. 2006; Cooke 2008). Documenting and quantifying factors crucial to species survival are the central aims of applied wildlife research, and the design of innovative research tools facilitates the achievement of these goals. Remote tracking technologies in wildlife studies have revolutionized scientiﬁc understanding of animal behavioural patterns and processes (Cooke et al. 2004; Ropert-Coudert and Wilson 2005; Fuller and Fuller 2012). The application of radio telemetry as very high frequency (VHF) collar transmitters allowed for the ﬁrst remote documentation of animal movements in the 1960s (Craighead et al. 1963). While revolutionary, VHF tracking often requires signiﬁcant ﬁeld eﬀort for sparse and relatively inaccurate data (Recio et al. 2011a; Gitzen et al. 2013). Furthermore, the collection, applicability, and quality of VHF data are limited by intrinsic biases such as observer presence, site remoteness, weather, and speciﬁc animal behaviours (Fuller et al. 2005; Recio et al. 2011b). In response to these limitations, satellite-based tracking technologies, such as the global positioning system (GPS), were ﬁrst applied to wildlife in the 1970s (Craighead et al. 1972). This development meant the collection of larger, more consistent, ﬁne-scaled and 476 accurate datasets (Rodgers 2001; Kochanny et al. 2002). Satellite tracking minimizes logistical eﬀort and eliminates the inﬂuence of observer presence on recorded behavioural patterns, generating datasets otherwise unobtainable by VHF tracking and more relevant to conservation actions (Hebblewhite and Haydon 2010). Satellite collars have established habitat utilisation and preferences for wary and remote species (Amstrup et al. 2004; Simcharoen et al. 2014), uncovered areas of previously unknown reproductive signiﬁcance in widely migrating species (Lindsell et al. 2009; Schoﬁeld et al. 2009; Hays et al. 2014), and discovered novel cryptic behaviours (Davis et al. 1999; Bandeira de Melo et al. 2007; Lührs and Kappeler 2013). However, the universal application of GPS to wildlife tracking is still limited by technological constraints, as historically, both transmitters and batteries have been bulky and large (>400 g, some up to 2.2 kg) (Rodgers 2001). Most terrestrial GPS studies have focused on mammals >7 kg, so spatial research on small and medium-sized species relies on VHF transmitters (Blackie 2010; Cagnacci et al. 2010). Owing to recent advancements in both battery longevity and the miniaturization of GPS component design, long-term satellite technologies are being applied to increasingly smaller mammalian species, such as the ocelot Leopardus pardalis (Haines et al. 2006), European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus (Recio et al. 2011c), fossa Cryptoprocta ferox (Lührs and Kappeler 2013), ﬁsher Martes pennanti (Brown et al. 2012), and brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Blackie 2010; Dennis et al. 2010). The Viverridae family (Order Carnivora) comprises 34 species in 14 genera, the majority of which weigh <8 kg (Jennings and Veron 2009). There exists a signiﬁcant paucity of data concerning even basic ecological information of this family (Schreiber et al. 1989), and ﬁve viverrid species are not yet represented in peer-reviewed literature (Brooke et al. 2014). What studies do occur are dominated by camera trap deployments (Wilting et al. 2010; Jennings et al. 2015), survey transects (Heydon and Bulloh 1996; Iseborn et al. 2010), and a handful of VHF studies (Joshi et al. 1995; Grassman 1998; Grassman et al. 2005a; Berhanu et al. 2013; Camps and Alldredge 2013; Nakashima et al. 2013). Viverrids are threatened by habitat loss and hunting, but also by lack of scientiﬁc information regarding rudimentary survival parameters (Schipper et al. 2008; Brooke et al. 2014). This knowledge gap poses a substantial threat to the eﬀective conservation and management of these species. Therefore, this study sought to demonstrate the applicability, performance, and value of satellite tracking a (...truncated)