Radio collars used in
Patrícia Medici's study
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All photos on this page are © Copyright 2000 Patrícia Medici
The photo above shows the damaged radio collar Patrícia Medici removed from Docinho's neck in November, 1999. It had been installed (new) in January, 1998, so it had less than two years of use. These Telonics collars are rated for three years, but here the layers of the collar are opened and the antenna is exposed. The two pictures just below also show this same collar after use.
Left: Another picture of Docinho's damaged radio collar. Right: Detail of a new collar, showing the layers in the collar and the metal stud that connects the layers.
The two photos above show a new Telonics collar and radio like the one removed from Docinho, above. The collars have very strong metal connectors over the length of the collar (like the one shown on the right in the previous pair of pictures) that should have held the layers together. Even so, they came apart with time. The radio by itself (above right) is very well protected. This radio collar, number 72, is the one that Patrícia Medici installed on Patrícia the tapir in July, 2000.
Both pictures above show the Medici&Mangini model collar created by Patrícia Medici and Dr. Paulo Mangini. The radio itself is a simple Telonics without the activity sensor. Medici and Mangini designed the collars and had them made locally out of leather. They are currently testing the design's efficiency. One was placed on a peccary, "Mariano," which was accidentally caught in a pitfall dug for tapirs in March, 2000. So far, the collar is doing fine, and Mariano is moving a lot, sending signals to Laury Cullen, who is tracking him as part of a related project.
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