JACKSON, Wyo. — Whether in person or in a photograph, wildlife collars are a common and noticeable distinction of many animals in Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), but the data associated with them tells more of a narrative than just numbers.
According to Aly Courtemanch, wildlife biologist at the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD), each collar or tag has a unique serial number that provides an entirely unique identity to that animal. The type of tag or collar used depends on the species and the purpose of the data.
As an example, Courtemanch says GPS satellite collars are almost always used for big game ungulate species. GPS collars will collect the location of an animal at programmed time intervals and store that information before linking up with a satellite and sending the location points to WGFD.
Animals are primarily tagged and collared in this area to learn about their movements, where they’re spending time and their habitat use. This can be the key to understanding the most effective places to install wildlife fencing and wildlife crossings to support migration corridors, in addition to navigating developments like new trail systems with seasonal closures.
Collars are also important to learning about an animal’s survival; if the collar’s motion sensor detects no movement for eight hours, it sends an alert. WGFD can use the location of the collar to potentially find the animal and investigate its cause of death. Collars can also show patterns of potential conflict in developed areas.
Collars will stay on a large mammal for about three years before the battery dies and the collar is programmed to automatically release off the animal.
The aesthetic appeal of a collar or tag on an animal can appear disruptive to wildlife photography of the natural world, but the information provided by GPS is what makes following and photographing these species possible.
“A collar is what enables these incredible stories to be dispersed over long distances,” Ronan Donovan, National Geographic photographer of “Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan” at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, says. “It enables for a bit more of an intimate and in-depth understanding. The research and photography can be combined and related.”
Donovan understands that collars and tags can be frustrating to see in images of wildlife, but says that capturing a photo of a tagged or collared animal can also be necessary to telling the narrative of wildlife in the context of conservation efforts.
“I see collars as a cost of the modern relationship that we have with wild animals.”
Ronan Donovan
“I see collars as a cost of the modern relationship that we have with wild animals,” Donovan says of how the image of collared or tagged wildlife can remind people that data and research is essential to ensure wildlife survival.
The cost of capturing an animal and tagging or collaring is something that WGFD takes into serious account.
“Any time an animal is handled by a human, it’s a stressful situation,” says Courtemanch. “If we feel like we’re not going to be able to do this capture in a way that’s safe and humane for the animal, we don’t do it.”
WGFD tries to make a capture as efficient as possible and uses different capture and handling techniques depending on the situation. In situations where an animal can potentially get overly stressed, a mild sedative or anesthesia can be used. The collars are sized in relationship to an animal’s bodyweight, so that they don’t impact an animal’s behavior.
