African Bushmen Track Wildlife with PDAs

Aug. 1, 2007 — In Africa, one might expect to see a lion with a fresh kill, a baboon with a toothy grin, or an elephant with its herd. But a Bushman with a PalmPilot? It's possible.

Expert hunters and gatherers such as the Bushmen, the indigenous people of the Kalahari Desert, are being equipped with smart phones with special software for tracking plants and animals. Called CyberTracker, the free program combines a database of icons of animals and plants with GPS software to allow people who cannot read or write to record complex information.

Conservationists use the information to create maps and charts of animal movements and feeding habits, which can help improve environmental research and park management.

"CyberTracker has therefore resulted in new discoveries that would not otherwise have been possible," said Louis Liebenberg, a conservation scientist who developed the software with programmer Justin Steventon.

In Odzala National Park in the Congo, CyberTracker data has shown how the ebola virus has killed more than 80 percent of lowland gorillas in some areas. Other species, such as the duiker and bushpig, were also killed by the virus, Liebenberg said.

Although Cybertracker is being used mostly to survey wildlife and habitat, the software can also be customized to other purposes. For example, it's being used in post-tsunami Sri Lanka to track humanitarian relief, in South Africa to manage pests on orchards, in Canada to monitor pollution and water quality, and in Gabon to track eco-tourism trends.

"We have had more than 30,000 downloads in more than 75 countries," said Liebenberg.

The CyberTracker screens serve, essentially, as an electronic field guide. The main screen shows a list of icons along with simple text indicating general choices.