Secret life of the cat: The science of tracking our pets
They share our homes, sleep on our beds and occasionally bring unwanted gifts. Yet, despite our domestic cats playing a big role in our lives, we know surprisingly little about what they get up to. A research project by BBC2's Horizon and the Royal Veterinary College set out to find out more. Alan Wilson, a professor specialising in animal movement, describes what was involved.
As a research scientist and vet at the Structure & Motion Laboratory at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), I research how and why animals move the way they do.
A lot of my research takes place out in the field so I can study how animals move in their natural environment. Studying animals in the wild without disturbing their natural behaviour has never been easy, but over the past few years a lot of new technology has come along to help us.
My research team has used this technology to develop some very specialised wildlife tracking tags and collars. They use a combination of high-accuracy GPS and electronic sensors to record the activity and movement of animals ranging from pigeons to big cats.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22821639
See here too : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22567526