For example, the screen may show an icon of a bird, reptile, hoof or paw print, plant or four-legged animal. If a Bushman sees a rhino, he would first click the hoof print icon. A new screen of icons would list a variety of possible animals the hoof could belong to.
Clicking on the rhino icon would take the Bushman to a screen of icons for possible rhino activities, such as eating, running, or drinking water. Another screen would allow him to enter the number of rhinos he saw.
Location information comes from a GPS signal the PDA receives via satellite. The tracker can later download the data to a computer using a wireless connection between the handheld device and a PC. (A future version will be able to send data from the field via a cell phone network.)
The information uploads into the main database for analysis and viewing in tables, graphs or maps.
A map can be generated, for example, to show what areas the person covered; a graph can show the number of observations, distance covered, and time spent on patrol each day.
"Having a park of almost two million hectares (five million acres) makes it very difficult to survey all areas. However, with this system in place, research and monitoring can be done on a daily basis during routine patrols," said Sandra Mac Fayden, a remote sensing analyst at Kruger National Park in South Africa, where the CyberTracker system is in place.
Liebenberg and Steventon are hoping to develop a Web-based version of CyberTracker as soon as funds become available. "I am confident that in 50 years every national park in the world will be using it," said Liebenberg.
