Karoo National Park, South Africa

Semi desert, fossil rich area the Great Karoo is the largest natural ecosystem in South Africa - and one of the world's great scientific wonders. Its rocks contain fossil remains spanning 310 million years. Dominated by the cliffs of the Nuweveld Mountains, the Karoo National Park is particularly beautiful in spring when the rugged landscape is transformed into a multi-coloured carpet of flowers.

Often harsh in the glare of the midday sun, this is a place of many moods. At dawn and sunset, the Karoo assumes its most flamboyant mood when the crystal-clear skies erupt into dramatic displays of red and gold. Nights are resplendent with a million twinkling stars ...

Whether you choose to explore by car, four-wheel drive or on foot, you'll probably encounter Cape mountain zebra, gemsbok, springbok, red hartebeest, kudu, black wildebeest and even the rare Desert Black Rhino. You might even spot a majestic black eagle - one of 180 bird species which frequent the park.

The First CyberTracker Pilot Project

The first prototype of the CyberTracker Field Computer has been tested by two trackers, Karel Benadie and James Minye, from September 1996 in the Karoo National Park.

Karel Benadie (photo) was the first tracker to use the CyberTracker and played an integral role in the design of the user interface.

Although they cannot read or write, they have been using the Field Computer to record their observations in the field and download the data onto the PC by themselves. They are therefore able to use the computer independently.

The main objective of the project is to monitor the highly endangered Desert Black Rhino. The data they collect are very detailed. For example, shifts in rhino feeding behaviour can be seen every two months, shifting from the rainy season through to the dry season.

Benadie and Minye have published their first article (co-authored with Louis Liebenberg and Lindsay Steventon), "Rhino Tracking with the CyberTracker Field Computer" in Pachyderm, Jan-Dec 1999, Number 27.  

In addition they record spoor of rare or nocturnal species that are not normally monitored. They record virtually everything in the veld that they find interesting. This may make it possible to monitor long term trends that would not otherwise be noticed at all.

Initial field tests indicate that a tracker can generate more than 100 observations in one day. One computer could therefore generate more than 20 000 observations in a year.

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