WHY COLLARED KUNO CHEETAHS CANNOT BE LIVE-TRACKED

03 Nov 2026

Tags: Environment   Conservation   Environmental degradation

Source: The Indian Express

Context: Kuno National Park Director Uttam Kumar Sharma clarified that satellite collars fitted on cheetahs do not provide continuous live tracking.

• The clarification followed the death of KNG22, a male cheetah found seriously injured in the Sheopur territorial forest division on October 25 and later died during treatment.
• The Madhya Pradesh government suspended six Forest Department officials in connection with the incident.

How Satellite Collars Work

• Location updates, not live tracking: Satellite collars provide the geographical location of an animal at a particular point in time; they do not continuously transmit its movements.
• Transmission frequency: At Kuno, collars are generally programmed to transmit location data at six-hour intervals.
• Missed transmissions: If one scheduled update is missed, the gap may increase to 12 hours; if two consecutive updates are missed, it may extend to 18 hours.
• Cost and battery constraints: Each collar costs approximately ₹4–5 lakh. Transmission frequency is determined by balancing monitoring requirements, battery life and the expected duration of collar use.
• Signal interruptions: Temporary loss of satellite signals may occur due to dense forest canopy, rocky terrain, caves and deep valleys, which can obstruct GPS signal reception or satellite visibility.
• Delayed response: By the time location information reaches monitoring teams and personnel travel to the reported coordinates, the animal may have moved several kilometres away.

Wildlife Monitoring at Kuno

• Around 15 cheetahs are monitored through a combination of satellite collars and radio receivers.
• Satellite collars: Provide location information over large and often inaccessible landscapes.
• Very High Frequency (VHF) radio receivers: Help field teams locate animals more precisely on the ground by detecting signals from the collars.
• The two technologies are complementary: satellite tracking identifies the last reported location, while VHF equipment assists in locating the animal in the field.

Challenges of Tracking Cheetahs

• High mobility: Cheetahs move an average of 6–8 km per day and may cover 12–15 km or more on several occasions.
• Movement patterns: Their movements are often concentrated during early morning and late evening hours.
• Terrain constraints: Following cheetahs on foot is extremely difficult, while monitoring vehicles cannot move through forests in straight lines like animals.
• Consequently, the actual distance travelled by a monitoring vehicle may be several times the straight-line distance between two locations.
• By the time teams reach the last reported satellite location, the cheetah may have moved beyond the team's VHF radio range.

Important Concepts for UPSC

• GPS vs Satellite Communication
  • GPS (Global Positioning System): A satellite-based navigation system that enables a receiver to determine its geographical position.
  • Satellite communication: Uses satellites to transmit information, such as location data, from a device to a receiving station.
  • A GPS-enabled collar may determine an animal's location, but the location data still needs to be transmitted and received. Therefore, GPS-based positioning does not automatically mean continuous live tracking.
• VHF (Very High Frequency) Radio
  • VHF radio operates in the 30–300 MHz frequency range.
  • It is used in wildlife monitoring to detect radio signals emitted by tracking collars.
  • Its effectiveness depends on factors such as terrain, vegetation, distance and receiver capability.