Target: Thomas J. Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture
Goal: Require all animal trackers and taggers report data to a shared, online database to help conserve endangered species.
Animal-tracking tags have long been used to identify and track individual animals. Tracking data has allowed researchers and conservationists alike to better understand the behaviors and movements of certain species, as well as to monitor population changes amidst a constantly changing environment. Animal-tagging has become an extremely vital component of international conservation efforts and without information from live animal tracking, we would be blind to so many important species specific characteristics—such as migration patterns and extinction rates.
Still, the current system makes it so that international data is hard to access. As tracking data systems currently exist, it is extremely difficult to establish how many and which animals were wearing tags. Recently published studies suggest that, through requiring taggers to register their tagged animals on some sort of accessible database or archive, we could boost current conservation efforts by keeping conservationists and environmentalists informed.
Sign this petition to encourage the U.S. government to enforce legislation mandating the use of a global database to register animal-tracking tags.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Vilsack,
Animal-tagging has become a vital component of conservation efforts across the globe.Tracking animals through means of animal-tagging allows researchers to monitor individual–as well as species–behaviors and movements and determine how these patterns change over time. However, it is currently extremely difficult for researchers to navigate tracking data, as it is not all accessible, making it a challenge to establish how many and what animals are wearing tags.
We are asking you, Mr. Vilsack, to implement an easy, cost-effective solution by requiring any tagger to compile information about tagged animals on an online forum, accessible to all other researchers and conservationists. This would allow organizations to more effectively and more precisely come up with conservation plans for different types of animals.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife
