ICARUS: Techno-Care to Wildlife

September 4, 2020 Asnani Bhawana Information & Communication Technology, Love for Fauna 44

The International Space Station, orbiting some 240 miles above the planet, is about to join the effort to monitor the world’s wild-life- and revolutionize the science of animal tracking. A large antenna and other equipment aboard the orbiting outpost, installed by spacewalking Russian astronauts in 2018, are being tested. These will become fully operational. The system will relay a much wider range of data than previous tracking technologies, logging not just an animal’s location but its physiology and environment. This will assist scientists and conservationists and provide more detailed information on the health of the world’s ecosystems.

The new approach, known as ICARUS- International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space- will be able to track animals across far larger areas. ICARUS has also  shrunk the size of the transmitters the animals wear. These changes will allow researchers to track flocks of birds as they migrate over long distances instead of monitoring only one or two birds at a time. And as climate change and habitat destruction roil the planet, ICARUS will allow biologists to quickly respond to changes in where and when  species migrate.

ICARUS combines off-the-shelf technology, which includes solar and GPS units, and new technology specifically designed for tracking small animals. Researchers will attach solar-powered bio-loggers to animals. Far smaller than other technology, these sensors can hitch a  ride on an array of animals and insects, like locusts, songbirds and abby tortoises. Most tracking technology can’t be attached to creatures that weigh less than 100 grams. The new sensor’s advanced design also allows them to collect far more data by monitoring an animal’s physiology and weather metrics, ICARUS could also help track animals vulnerable to poaching. One of its goals is to help conservation managers respond to a changing world. Many species are the move as climate and other changes cause shifts. Protecting them requires an understanding of where they are going and where new protected areas and corridors may need to be created.

this space based approach is led by Martin Wikelski, the director of migration research at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour in Germany. It has been funded primarily by DLR, the German Space Agency. The power of this new approach is also based on the fact that the space station can pick up the signals of animals almost anywhere on the planet. And while other conservation projects have tracked sharks, birds and other migratory species, this one aims to be useful for any species. In Europe, studies show some 30% of migratory songbirds have disappeared. ICARUS may give much more detailed answers as to why and guide conservation measures.

ICARUS is the most important technological advance in tracking wild-life around Earth. It will enable research that is much more sophisticated in terms of our quantitative analyses of wildlife behaviour; the real time state of animals and the threats they face. It will create a global community of  researchers which is important, given factors like climate change. But ICARUS also breaks new ground in terms of its philosophy. From the time of Charles Darwin, there has been an overemphasis on examining the individual being. Terms like ‘survival of the fittest’ dominated the discourse. This also impacted how we looked at animals and birds. But, now we are starting to see life as a collective– and animal life as a swarm. This is a massive change in our global understanding of life. It’s like going back to the Eastern cultures which believe that everything is connected. Life is a collective and it cannot be accurately understood by only thinking of individuals. ICARUS therefore focuses on animal life as a collective.

Animals are often the first to gauge diseases, geological shifts or climate changes. Researchers recently published a paper on how animals can predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Tracking their behaviour, their systems of awareness and alerts can be very useful for us. Animals also sense the movements of other beings. A good example is storks, which sense when desert locusts are about to come off the ground. We normally can’t understand how locusts appear so suddenly. But studying storks can give us valuable information in time.

Tracking diseases via animals is also important. Currently, bats are getting bad press. But most diseases don’t come from bats. They emerge from other species that come into contact with them. Bats are sentinels– they can indicate where the real hosts of disease are. Now fruit bats are being sent across Africa to track ebola and different fevers. When bats encounter these, they develop antibodies but such antibodies in bats can alert human beings to where such diseases could break out, enabling early warning systems.

This technology will soon offer anyone the chance to virtually adopt an animal and track it around the world via an app. Living anywhere, you can virtually in real time follow your animal in the wild. you can immerse yourself in an animal’s life. You can follow a bird flying from south India over the Himalayas into Mongolia. Such experiences will change people’s perspective on life and animal conservation. Technology can change how we perceive nature. It can bring us back to loving it.

KEEPING TRACK: THE SCIENCE OF BIO-LOGGING WILDLIFE

  • Bio-logging- means tracking animals using bands, tags and implanted chips. Bird-banding was the first bio-logging- in 1803, John James Audubon, an ornithologist, tied string around eastern phoebe birds to confirm that these returned to the same nesting sites. Bird banding involves attaching a bird’s leg with an aluminium or plastic band featuring a unique ID.
  • In the 1950’s , VHF (very high frequency) telemetry enabled inserting transmitters in collars attached to animals, sending signals to receivers. VHF tracked species like cheetahs, rhinos and elephants. Alongside locations, VHF recorded an animal’s heart rate and respiration.
  • In the 1990’s, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology enabled GPS receiver-fitted harnesses and implants, tracked by orbiting satellites. GPS was useful in following marine mammals and reptiles. Early GPS receivers weighed over 800 grams though, limiting their use among smaller wildlife.
  • Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) followed- electronic storage devices were attached  to marine animals like turtles, crustaceans and molluscs. These could record temperatures, light, depths, feeding patterns and spawning areas. These tags weighed upto 108 grams. Satellite tags are often attached to the shells of migrating hawksbill turtles.
  • New technologies like ICARUS will now shrink bio-logging trackers to under 3 grams. Scientists are also developing trackers under one gram to help follow much smaller animals, including invertebrates.

Matter referenced:

Martin Wikelski, Head- Space based- ICARUS project & Director- Munich’s Max Planck Institute of animal Behaviour, Times Evoke, Times of India, Ahmedabad Edition, Sunday, 2th August, 2020.

By: Dr. Bhawana Asnani.

Happy to see Reviews, Additions, Suggestions and Comments, further.

 

About Asnani Bhawana 288 Articles
Assistant Professor, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat

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