We sponsored a Garmin GPS collar for Luna Hounds, after the team had lost their previous collar during a traininig exercise. These collars are a key training, safety and deployment tools.

All pack hounds are only every deployed and trained with a working GPS collar. During training, it allows the trainer to follow the free running hounds via the GPS, determining how closely they follow the training scent trail, what the hounds do when they loose the scent, how the individuals work together in relation to one another and how fast they "apprehend" the scent layers. It also shows whether hounds have veered off of a track due to encountering a predator, or larger mammals like buffalo, rhino or elephant that they might need to avoid in order to stay safe. It also shows the trainer whether they need to race to the encounter to potentially rescue the dogs. 

During deployment, the GPS track shows the exact location of the dogs, and together with the baying indicates how close the hounds are to making contact with the suspected poachers - alerting the helicopter and ground teams to where exactly contact will be made and where they have to be to make the arrest. 

This collar was sponsored by Victoria - who has also adopted a pup from the Bravo Pack that will finish its training this year!

Learn more about Luna Hounds here.

Keen to support this project? You can make a donation here.

Written by Evelyn Poole