Highland red deer tracked by GPS in behaviour study
Researchers have fitted GPS collars on red deer in the west Highlands to help track their movement and behaviour.The devices will be fitted on 22 stags while GPS ear tags have also been placed on six calves to help monitor them as they travel through the landscape with their mothers. The study, involving sporting estates and conservation organisations, is a partnership between the charity Affric Highlands and Durham University.Researchers hope their findings will help with efforts to keep deer populations healthy and sustainable and with the restoration of native habitats like woodlands.
Dr Eilidh Smith from Durham University said they would be tracking and mapping red deer movements to assess their seasonal migrations and home range sizes.She added that this would build knowledge of how they respond to human activities such as fencing, culling and commercial stalking.Nicola Williamson, field officer for Affric Highlands, said red deer were a vital part of Scotland's upland landscapes and rural economies – but "increased populations have led to challenges in balancing ecological health, biodiversity, and land management objectives."She said strengthening understanding of how the animals moved across estates and habitats was "key to recovering ecosystems and improving deer health."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Lorraine Kelly ‘terrified' after climbing up 25-ft ship in Dundee following keyhole surgery
Watch as Lorraine Kelly admits she was "terrified" after abseiling down the mast of a 25-metre mast on Friday (27 June), just weeks after the star's keyhole surgery. The TV presenter scaled up and down the RRS Discovery ship, a vessel that previously ventured to Antarctica, with fellow presenter Dan Snow in Dundee. Feet firmly back on the ground, Kelly said: 'The experience in general was absolutely terrifying. I'm not good with heights so it was scary, I was shaking like a leaf.' Last month, the 65-year-old presenter underwent keyhole surgery to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries, a procedure Kelly described as 'purely preventive'.
Times
2 days ago
- Times
Stop building near the Clyde estuary, flood researchers warn
Plans for new buildings on the low-lying banks of the River Clyde must be halted because they cannot be defended from worsening flooding, scientists have warned. Some prime real estate in the west of Scotland — such as land around Glasgow airport — will be put at risk from rising sea levels, experts have previously said. Now a major study has found that the measures proposed to mitigate this threat, including re-creating 'soft' natural environments such as wetlands and salt marshes to slow down and absorb flood waters, will not be enough to save swathes of the area. Academics from Glasgow University said that avoiding future development 'in the tidal floodplains of large estuaries is the best means of minimising future flood risk in a rapidly warming world'. They said this applied to the UK as well around the world.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Highland red deer tracked by GPS in behaviour study
Researchers have fitted GPS collars on red deer in the west Highlands to help track their movement and devices will be fitted on 22 stags while GPS ear tags have also been placed on six calves to help monitor them as they travel through the landscape with their mothers. The study, involving sporting estates and conservation organisations, is a partnership between the charity Affric Highlands and Durham hope their findings will help with efforts to keep deer populations healthy and sustainable and with the restoration of native habitats like woodlands. Dr Eilidh Smith from Durham University said they would be tracking and mapping red deer movements to assess their seasonal migrations and home range added that this would build knowledge of how they respond to human activities such as fencing, culling and commercial Williamson, field officer for Affric Highlands, said red deer were a vital part of Scotland's upland landscapes and rural economies – but "increased populations have led to challenges in balancing ecological health, biodiversity, and land management objectives."She said strengthening understanding of how the animals moved across estates and habitats was "key to recovering ecosystems and improving deer health."
