Abstract
Effective and safe monitoring techniques are needed by U.S. land managers to understand free-roaming horse behavior and habitat use and to aid in making informed management decisions. Global positioning system (GPS) and very high frequency (VHF) radio collars can be used to provide high spatial and temporal resolution information for detecting free-roaming horse movement. GPS and VHF collars are a common tool used in wildlife management, but have rarely been used for free-roaming horse research and monitoring in the United States. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the design, safety, and detachment device on GPS/VHF collars used to collect free-roaming horse location and movement data. Between 2009 and 2010, 28 domestic and feral horses were marked with commercial and custom designed VHF/GPS collars. Individual horses were evaluated for damage caused by the collar placement, and following initial observations, collar design was modified to reduce the potential for injury. After collar modifications, which included the addition of collar length adjustments to both sides of the collar allowing for better alignment of collar and neck shapes, adding foam padding to the custom collars to replicate the commercial collar foam padding, and repositioning the detachment device to reduce wear along the jowl, we observed little to no evidence of collar wear on horses. Neither custom-built nor commercial collars caused injury to study horses, however, most of the custom-built collars failed to collect data. During the evaluation of collar detachment devices, we had an 89% success rate of collar devices detaching correctly. This study showed that free-roaming horses can be safely marked with GPS and/or VHF collars with minimal risk of injury, and that these collars can be a useful tool for monitoring horses without creating a risk to horse health and wellness.
Highlights
Free-roaming horse (Equus caballus) management is a complex issue incorporating social, economic, emotional, political, and environmental factors
Very high frequency radio (VHF) and Global positioning system (GPS) collar technologies are commonly used by wildlife managers and researchers to track and monitor a diversity of wildlife species, ranging from migratory birds [2] and small mammals to large herbivores and carnivores [3]
Study area We used two separate study locations to evaluate the utility and safety of very high frequency (VHF)/GPS collars in characterizing free-roaming horse movement and habitat use patterns: the Roaring Springs Ranch (RSR) in southeast Oregon and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in northwest Nevada (Figure 1)
Summary
Free-roaming horse (Equus caballus) management is a complex issue incorporating social, economic, emotional, political, and environmental factors. The complexity associated with developing appropriate free-roaming horse management practices has highlighted the need for an improved understanding of free-roaming horse behavior, habitat use, resource impacts, and movement patterns across the landscape. Global positioning system (GPS) collars offer a robust tool to track horse activity with high spatial and temporal resolution. Very high frequency radio (VHF) and GPS collar technologies are commonly used by wildlife managers and researchers to track and monitor a diversity of wildlife species, ranging from migratory birds [2] and small mammals to large herbivores and carnivores [3]. World-wide, over the past 30 years, thousands of individuals of a variety of species have been captured and collared to study ecological dynamics and behavior [4]. Collars have been used to track a variety of livestock species, in particular cattle
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