Short-range Bluetooth monitoring method for tracking, monitoring and follow-up of low-mobility wild species, Choloepus hoffmanni sp.

Wildlife monitoring provides essential information for research, management, and release of rehabilitated animals. A handmade backpack with a tracker connected to a smartphone through Bluetooth signal was used to track rescued and rehabilitated two-toed sloths, Choloepus hoffmanni. The design of the equipment consisted of a malleable structure with biodegradable sections to favor independent detachment and a tied Tile tracking device in the dorsal surface, which, combined with transects, constitute a short-range Bluetooth monitoring method (SBMM). An experiment was conducted to compare the detection success of two-toed sloth detections through direct observation and SBMM in a forest patch. Direct observation technique was unsuccessful at detecting the two-toed sloth (0/4); in contrast, all the trials with the SBMM registered the presence of the two-toed sloth (10/10), 70% managed to pinpoint the location between three trees, 50% located the tree where the animal was, and 40% were able to visually detect it. Additionally, four two-toed sloths (three rehabilitated, one translocated) were monitored in situ in forests, and the backpack persisted a total of 110 days. In 84.3% of the 70 SBMM in situ implementation events examined, observation of the animal was achieved. In all cases, the backpack was released without human intervention. This method facilitates low-cost detection of low-mobility animals, especially after rehabilitation.