Use experience of collars with radio beacons of Argos satellite system produced by ES-PAS Ltd. for the study of reindeer Taimyr-Evenk population

Abstract

Abstract. The use of reindeer resources in Central Siberia - the main welfare source for the majority of farms and the indigenous population of the North region. Protection and rational use of Taimyr-Evenk reindeer population inhabiting the Krasnoyarsk territory on the area of more than 1.5 million km2 are impossible without the use of modern remote sensing methods. It provides objective and live data information about the spatial and temporal location of animals at different stages of their life cycle. Monitoring carried out with the use of modern technical devices allows to solve not only applied control problems, but also to obtain new unique knowledge about the biology of this species. The basis for this message was the materials on the use of collars equipped with satellite transmitters of the Argos system and worn on deer. A total number of collars was 17, which were worn on reindeer in their wintering grounds, except for one, which a half-grown female was marked during the crossing of the Heta river. From a technical point of view, it was important to trace the total duration of the beacon and the viability of the battery packs in extreme temperature amplitude and also to establish reliability of the device protection from physical and mechanical influence during migrations of animals. The maximum duration of signal receipt with using the new battery packs in 2015-2016 amounted to 438 and 444 days, in 2017-2018 – 539 days. The maximum length of the deer during the satellite direction finding was 9538 km. The average speed was 13.5 km / day; the maximum was up to 45 -72 km / day in azimuth. Used collars with radio beacons of Argos satellite system produced by ES-PAS Ltd. (Russia), showed a high degree of functional reliability.