Call for a critical review of widespread use of animal tracking devices

Abstract

Animal tracking has undergone a technological revolution, providing insight into biological details that were previously impossible to address. However, the increasing ease of access to tracking devices (biologgers) may lead to trivializing this technology. As a result, some projects may fail to generate enough scientific knowledge to ethically justify the capture and handling of wild animals. Theoretically, bioethical regulations should be enough to prevent this phenomenon. Nevertheless, given that biologging has developed recently and at a spectacular speed, it is possible that these regulations may not have adapted in a timely manner to the new reality. To illustrate this point, we present as example the biologging projects on Iberian raptors, which show a decrease in their scientific outputs. Furthermore, we show how the general opinion of experts is that current wildlife handling regulations are ineffective. Finally, we propose ten key points which we consider would help to improve these regulations, adapting them to the challenges of biologging.