An Educational GPS Collar?!

Since 2019 we have supported both KopeLion and the Mara Predator Conservation Programme (MPCP) in their efforts to deploy GPS collars onto wild lions in their study areas. Five collars in total have been sponsored including most recently the refurbishment of a collar through the MPCP which was covered in this blog post. We have had the privilege of meeting both of these teams in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Maasai Mara ecosystem to see how this pioneering piece of technology can have many different applications to real time conservation efforts.

Niels Mogensen, Senior Programme Scientist of the MPCP showed us on a visit to the Mara in February 2025 how they use the computer programme 'Earth Ranger' to track and monitor the lions and other collared carnivores within the landscape and how other uses are alerted to their presence with each imaginary boundary having an alert system in place if one of the collared animals comes close or crosses. In 2023 we were shown how KopeLion Ilchokuti, Guardians stationed in different community areas use their tracking equipment to locate the collared lions, their transceivers can show them how far away and the direction that the collared lion is coming from, which can help them make informed decisions to help mitigate potential conflicts. The photos below are from the MPCP and KopeLion of their collaring efforts that we have supported since 2019.

Over the years, GPS collars have turned into an important part of our overall strategy for lion conservation support and have been the subject of many successful fundraisers. We have however, never had a piece of interpretation that we can use to show properly what the collar is like and its different features. This year trustees have been brain storming the possibility of creating a replica and approached Vectronic Aeropsace the manufacturers of the collars used by both KopeLion and the MPCP for their advice. We were however, delighted when they responded with the idea to create us a complete replica collar and to donate it towards us to use for our educational efforts. The collar has now arrived and we are so pleased with the end result! We would like to add special thanks to our correspondence with Nicola Anklam of Vectronic Aerospace who has sent us the following quotes and information about their work.

"At VECTRONIC Aerospace, we are proud to support organizations that help raise awareness of wildlife conservation. For the Safina Lion Conservation Fund, we produced a non-functional demonstration version of one of our lion collars using original mechanical components and housings, but without any electronic hardware."

"To make the collar as realistic as possible, we added the protective belt used on our lion collars and included a demonstration Drop Off mechanism to illustrate how collars are safely released from animals at the end of a study. We hope this demonstration collar will support Safina's educational outreach by showcasing the close partnership between technology and conservation and highlighting how wildlife telemetry helps researchers protect wild lion populations."

Trustees are very excited that this new brilliant piece of interpretation has now arrived just in time for UK summer holidays and World Lion Day events and that it will be used at different zoo events throughout August as we raise funds for a GPS collar to be used for KopeLion in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We hope that this will enable us to talk in more detail to zoo visitors about the importance of collaring and hopefully something that we can use for many years to come. We would like to thank Vectronic Aerospace again for supporting our educational work.