According to Postal news, "To mark World Wildlife Day, which was celebrated yesterday (Sunday, 3 March), the ICNF states that the spatial monitoring of the Iberian lynx is about to enter a “new level of sophistication”.

The project is being developed in partnership with Infraestruturas de Portugal and the company Waze, which manages an application for mobile devices, based on GPS navigation.

The three entities are preparing “a tracking system capable of signaling in this company's mobile application [Waze] the proximity of endangered felines near various roads”.

“For now, the system is being tested on national roads (EN) 122, 123 and on the complementary route (IC) 27 [in Alentejo and Algarve]. The alerts are triggered as soon as the animals enter virtual areas of territory 200 meters wide, adjacent to the roads, on both sides of the road”, says the ICNF.

The institute adds that the expectation is that this new technology “will offer a greater degree of protection for Iberian lynxes from the risk of being run over”, although “the collaboration of motorists” is always necessary.

“Taking into account that run-overs are the main cause of unnatural mortality for lynxes and that these occurrences can also pose a danger to drivers, it is expected that this technology can play a decisive role in reducing these accidents”, argues the ICNF.

“The communication process uses a device based on LoRa network technology: radio frequency for long-distance communication, with minimal energy consumption and it is the interconnection with sensors present in the tracking collars of felines that will allow you to locate them."

This monitoring system will be “more sophisticated” and “more rigorous”, with “data transmitted almost in real-time”, says the ICNF, adding that the initiative is part of the LIFE Lynxconnect project, a project that aims to “increase the population of Iberian lynx and reinforce connectivity between the subpopulations of Portugal and Spain”.

The ICNF also says that, in partnership or autonomously, it uses various types of technologies and systems in nature conservation, highlighting “photo-trapping machines, bioacoustic monitoring devices, data processing systems or geographic information”.