Tracking in the Bush

Vehicle tracking not only manages your fleet, but it saves the lives of wildlife in deepest Africa. A student at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has utilised the power of vehicle trackers (often used for fleet management) to create a thorough understanding of the various wildlife found throughout Africa. The GPS devices are being used to calculate vehicle topography of the Eastern Cape, as many of the reclaimed farmlands out there are reliant on dilapidated farm roads - due to this there has never been a thorough investigation of the possible damaging effects that these roads can cause on travellers vehicles.

The findings from this particular project will go a long way in finally providing aid to the managers of each reserve - for instance tourist hotspots will be able to be exactly pinpointed; or for directing the construction of valuable road networks. As we mentioned earlier, one of the key factors for setting up these systems are the advanced vehicle tracker devices - with the initial step being an installation of these devices in each game drive vehicle. The vehicles will be spread out across the seven properties (Addo Elephant Park plus six other private reserves). Less ground-breaking studies made use of aerial photography to map the usefulness of the road systems.

By use of a satellite device, the tracking devices will accurately record the exact length of time each vehicle pauses for, as well as tracking the routes they take on a daily basis. Weather patterns, seasonal fluctuations and far more can all be easily recorded and maintained in a constant timeline of events.

Reams of information will be accurately channelled to the internet via local telecommunication networks. The student who is working on these findings will then view them all on computer; they will then be collated into GPS coordinates. These tiny pin-pricks of information are finally overlaid onto an online mapping system of sorts. Eventually, managers of each game park will be able to see at a single glance which routes are being either over or under-utilised. This is a vehicle tracking project that is worth keeping your eyes on for future developments.