It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Wild animals can now GPS-collar themselves for research
For six decades, wildlife researchers have faced a persistent challenge: to attach a tracking device to study a wild animal, they first have to catch it. Now, a new approach developed at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) allows GPS collars to be deployed autonomously on free-roaming terrestrial wildlife. Published in BioScience, the proof-of-concept study demonstrates Capture-Free Telemetry (CFT), a technique that places tracking devices on wild animals as they interact with baited deployment units in their natural habitat.
Challenging and expensive
Traditional wildlife telemetry relies on physical capture. This is invasive, difficult, and expensive. Capturing and restraining wild animals can also cause severe stress. It carries risks of injury or death for animals, and sometimes even people. Because capture is often the riskiest and most challenging component of wildlife telemetry projects, traditional tracking studies often monitor only a handful of animals at a time. In addition, study design compromises are often made to stretch collar battery life as much as possible.
Removing stress and bias
"By allowing animals to fit themselves with tracking devices, we may improve animal welfare while also removing a potentially important source of bias in wildlife research,” says Prof. Richard Bischof of NMBU, inventor of the capture-free system and author of the study.
“The point of wildlife telemetry is usually to study the natural behavior of wild animals in their environment. But when we capture and immobilize wild animals, we inadvertently affect their behavior, physiology, and fitness”. The novel capture-free approach opens the door to what Bischof calls a ‘finer-touch telemetry’: collaring more animals less invasively and tracking each for a shorter period.
He adds “This can yield better coverage of the population and more detailed data, while reducing disturbance to the animals’ natural behavior.”
How it works
Capture-Free Telemetry uses species-specific autonomous deployment setups that allow wild animals to collar themselves when interacting with baited devices in their habitat. In trials conducted in Norway, Prof. Bischof demonstrated proof-of-concept systems tailored to both ungulates (red deer, Cervus elaphus) and carnivores (red foxes, Vulpes vulpes). The field trials involving deer were conducted at the Norwegian Deer Centre (Norsk hjortesenter), a national competence centre for deer and other wild ungulates in Norway.
To safeguard animal welfare, safety features are built directly into the design. The collars automatically adjust to the animal's neck size. They are also designed to drop off after a few weeks or a couple of months and have built-in weak spots to allow separation in case of discomfort or entanglement.
Looking back to go forward
The idea for this technology emerged long before Bischof joined NMBU. Prior to moving to Norway to pursue his PhD, Bischof worked as a wildlife biologist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in the United States. “I worked closely with and learned from professional trappers. This gave me hands-on experience with trapping as a tool for wildlife research and management.”
Those experiences led him to wonder whether snare-based devices could be used to mark animals without human handling.
Later, he discovered a series of largely forgotten studies from the 1950s through the 1970s that explored various forms of automatic animal marking. These early efforts demonstrated that the basic idea was already being explored decades ago and helped provide a foundation for modern capture-free telemetry.
Snares are one of the oldest trapping devices and have long been used in wildlife research and management. But they are also associated with misuse because they can be non-selective and harmful when used improperly. In addition, they are often used by poachers for trapping wildlife illegally.
“There is an interesting paradox here. A method often viewed as controversial may ultimately help reduce the need to capture and handle animals for research,” Bischof concludes.
Bischof and colleagues across Europe and the USA are now seeking to further develop and test Capture-Free Telemetry by comparing its behavioral impacts with those of traditional capture-based telemetry and by exploring its potential use for capture-free instrumentation of other species.
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