For years Smart Parks is supporting the Desert Lions Conservation project in the Northern Namib Desert in it’s effort to protect the elusive desert lions. In 2019 our team has deployed the first Smart Parks network. Only five years later our OpenCollar portfolio has evolved to the current state, where it is good enough to finally play its part in protecting the desert lions. The all new CollarEdge Free lion collar is running our latest hardware and firmware stack, which means it can now communicate using LoRaWAN, Iridium, VHF and Bluetooth in parallel. It also hosts all the basic features like the accurate GNSS localisation, but also more advanced features like contact tracing. But maybe maybe most importantly, the whole mechanics is build from the ground up taking lessons from maybe the best lion collar ever designed, NamTag. We hope this first deployment will inspire others to make use of this impressive peace of technology. We also want to express gratitude to all the supporters of the Smart Parks – OpenCollar Initiative, as without them we could have never reached this level.
The next months will tell us how much work is left to make this collar even better. For now we can already say that this is a giant leap forward compared to the previous CollarEdge deployed on lions. Please keep an eye open for more update, as we are also very close to deploying the first all new CollarEdge non-satellite versions. These collars will be the best options if no satellite connection is needed and a good and stable LoRaWAN network is present, or if you are just using the collars as data loggers.
The mechanical design and build of these new collars is crucial. We are very grateful to all the input and guidance we got from Joe and Gisela Noci, the hands, hearths and minds behind the famous NamTag collars. These collars have been protecting many lions in Namibia for decades.
Darting and fitting of new SmartParks collar to Xpl-151 “Gamma” | DesertLion.Info
The first new generation “Smart” collar CollarEdge Free from Smart Parks was fitted to the young lioness Xpl-151 of the Orphan group. The young lioness, Xpl-151 “Gamma” (named after Griet Van Malderen) is the first lioness of the first generation of Maritime lions (since their demise in the 1980s) – that grows up with the knowledge and culture of maritime life and food items.
About Desert Lion Conservation
Desert Lion Conservation, or the “Desert Lion Project”, as it is often referred to, is a small non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of desert – adapted lions in the Northern Namib and at the Skeleton Coast. Our main focus is to collect important base-line ecological data on the lion population and to study their behaviour, biology and adaptation to survive in the harsh environment. We then use this information to collaborate with other conservation bodies in the quest to find a solution to human-lion conflict, to elevate the tourism value of lions, and to contribute to the conservation of the species.
https://www.desertlion.info/
