SICK Sensors Helping Cheetahs Survive...

When Cheetahs snatch calves from cattle herds, farmers tend to reach for their guns, but now a group of biologists have come up with a solution to this conflict between man and beast - and sensors from SICK have something to do with it.

When humans and animals compete for food and space, there is bound to be conflict - and most of the time, it's the animal that gets hurt. The case of Cheetahs in Namibia is no different, being home to around 1300 of the big cats. The problem being that the Cheetahs share the land with cattle herds of the farmers living there, and with calves posing as easy pray for the relatively weak cheetah, it's a constant battle.

It's no wonder that the farmers have, in the past, had to reach for their guns to protect their livestock, and therefore adding to the endangerment of the species. Fortunately and finally, a peaceful resolution has been found, thanks to the team of biologists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, who have been conducting in-depth research into Cheetahs in Namibia since 2005 in this lose-lose situation.

The Struggle of Being in the Desert

Cheetahs aren't the most extraverted of the big cats, so the researchers were faced with the initial task of trapping them before finding out anything. Once done and the Cheetahs have been anaesthetised, the researchers were able to weigh and measure them, draw blood samples and attach collars fitted with special GPS trackers to trace their movements.

"When I joined the project in 2005, I spent five or six hours of every day sitting in the car so I could check all eight of our cage traps," says Dr, Jörg Melzheimer, the coordinator of the Cheetah project. "We really needed a solution to the problem, and it had to be one that would run off solar power and a 12-volt power supply, because when you're out in the bush, the nearest power socket is 150km away." The tech-savvy biologist spent several years on a series of solutions but none of them were entirely satisfactory. In the end he came to photoelectric sensors, which he ordered from China. The idea behind it was to trigger the traps when a Cheetah entered, and a computer would send a notification to his phone.

But, as nothing ever goes perfectly first time, there was a problem. "The relays for the photoelectric sensors would make a clicking noise, which meant that the wary Cheetahs would immediately pull back out of the trap," says Melzheimer. This is where SICK came in. In spring 2022 Melzheimer got in touch. "For a sensor manufacturer like SICK, my problem was probably one of the easiest assignments it had ever taken on. I got the feeling that all the man on the phone needed to do was open a drawer and pull out the right sensor!"

Maximum Power in Miniature Format

Normally used in Industrial Automation (of course!), the W4F sensor from SICK is now realising its full versatile potential, in the Namibian bush! It packs exceptional performance into a miniature format and is not sensitive to optical interference. "That itself makes life a lot easier, because the old sensors had a habit of triggering the doors of the traps when the sun shone on them at just the wrong angle," explains Melzheimer. "When that happened, we couldn't catch any Cheetahs at all, because the trap was shut." Aside from simply being more up to the job, the incredible precision of the W4F means that the traps are triggered at exactly the right moment, for the right animal, increasing reliability. This stops other species native to Namibia, such as Warthogs, from being trapped by mistake.

Popular Meeting Points

So, how have SICK's sensors helped solve the original problem - conflict with farmers? As a result of extensive research over many years - more than 250 Cheetahs in Namibia have been fitted with GPS trackers over the course of the project - Melzheimer and his team stumbled upon an unexpected but valuable finding. "By recording the movements of the Cheetahs, we found that they had what you might call communication hubs. These are special places where they meet up to find suitable mates." The Cheetahs frequent to their meeting places all year round - behaviour that Melzheimer says has not been observed before. "The communication hubs are distributed very evenly across the landscape, roughly 25 kilometers apart, and barely change if the Cheetahs aren't disturbed."

So, if the farmers now know where these meeting places are, they can strategically distribute their herds across the grazing land to keep the cows and their calves for enough away to stay out of danger. The research team managed to persuade the farmers that this was a much better idea than killing any approaching Cheetahs. "Shooting the animals was actually counterproductive, because they would then move their meeting places and it would no longer be possible to plan around them."

Today farmers are given maps with the known communications hubs marked, and they can position their herds on the land accordingly. Farmers now lose around 80% fewer calves. Although SICK aren't the direct cause of this breakthrough, their use in catching the animals in order to discover the information marked a turning point in wildlife research, making it significantly more efficient, effective and low-impact.

Patented Live Trap With SICK

"As far as I'm concerned, the practice of trapping wildlife for research was previously stuck in the 18th century, and the sensors from SICK has catapulted it into the 21st," says Melzheimer. "Our smart trap was patented in early 2023 and is now being used in other research projects too." The story of the Cheetahs and farmers makes for persuasive proof of just how important this research is for both humans and the natural world. It's fantastic to think that with its sensors, SICK has made its own small contribution to the research, wildlife conservation and perhaps even to helping humans and animals to co-exist more peacefully.

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If you want to know more about SICK Sensor solutions that could benefit your operation (it really can be anything, even Cheetahs), or have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch on 01254 685900 and our Internal Sales Advisors or Technical Support Engineers will be happy to chat!

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Don't Miss The Video Interview With
Dr Jörg Melzheimer!