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[/one_third]Five eco-guards have been trained to use geo-referencing skills and cyber trackers to monitor the behaviour of great apes of the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Lebialem, Southwest Region of Cameroon. The eco-guards received the practical training, March 21-25, 2015, carried out by ERuDeF’s junior biologist Gwendoline Angwah.
The training featured amongst other sessions geo-referencing of camera traps planted 1km2 with cyber trackers and the processing of information obtained using the camera traps.
“A cyber tracker is software which is basically a mobile data captured solution that can be used by non-technical people. It can be used in GPS-enabled devices such as smart phones, handheld computers for recording and observing animal movement quickly and easily,” explained Angwah.
“First we remove the SD cards from the camera traps and download the footages into a computer; we examine the footages recorded by the traps and then we can analyse the information on human activities, mammals and other apes in the various sequences of the cyber tracker.”
At the end of the training, the eco-guards were unanimous that the knowledge they acquired would greatly help them to patrol and monitor wildlife more effectively in the sanctuary and anywhere else they may be called upon to work.
“Rest assured of our best in the implementation of this technology in our day to day activities of great apes monitoring within the sanctuary,” said Elebe Bessala Adalbert, one of the eco-guards.
By Enowkenwa Allen Tabi