Towards an acoustic biotelemetry system for animal behavior studies

Using Indian crested porcupines Hystrix indica, sounds of feeding, drinking, sniffing, walking, threat huffs, moving in dense vegetation and digging were recorded from captive and leash-led subjects in the field. Briefly trained observers correctly identified 82 ± 12% of individual behaviors by sound, and had very accurate (93%) identifications of feeding and walking events. A prototype collar-mounted transmitter and receiver system enabled researchers to detect usable sound signals ≤1 km in the field. -from Authors