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MOTUS Wildlife Tracking Tower will put North Bay on the map for wildlife tracking

The Nipissing Naturalists are working with the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority to raise $10,000 to install a Motus Wildlife Tracking Tower at the Laurentian Escarpment Conservation Area as part of an international wildlife tracking effort. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a combined research network that uses co-ordinated automated radio telemetry arrays to study movements of small animals.

President of Nipissing Naturalists, Fred Pinto says although there are currently more than 350 Motus towers – each passively receiving tracking information from tagged animals, including birds, bats and even butterflies – there are still some substantial gaps in coverage throughout Northern Ontario, including here in North Bay. Pinto says the two closest towers, each with a reception field of 15 to 20 kilometres in diameter, are located in Kawartha Lakes and at the Hilliardton Marsh in New Liskeard.

This leaves a large gap in tracking migration routes through the North Bay/Nipissing Region. The area sees much activity through the spring and fall migration seasons. Pinto says over the past few decades, they’ve seen troubling declines in many species, including shorebirds and aerial insectivores, such as swallows and flycatchers. Pinto says the Motus wildlife tracking network helps them better understand migration patterns and population health for species which live here year round, and those which travel through.

The equipment, which includes a SensorGnome, antennae, connectors and cables, as well as the cost of a tower or pole and installation is estimated at $10,000. Contributions of any amount will help ensure North Bay’s contribution to wildlife tracking and research around the world. The conservation authority has set up a fund for the tracking tower. Donations can be dropped off at its office and receive a charitable tax receipt or online through CanadaHelps.org.

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