Kits
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New Forest bird researchers hit by hawfinch monitoring kit theft
Wild New Forest says two trail cameras and an automated feeder used to survey birds have been stolen.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Hawfinch monitoring kit stolen (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Kits
- Start date
www.bbc.co.uk
Peter.home
Well-known member
That's a shame. Marcus and his family / team put an incredible amount of time into conservation and education of the things we all love on here.
Some people don't deserve the New Forest. I find myself saying that quite often.
Some people don't deserve the New Forest. I find myself saying that quite often.
kb57
Well-known member
When I was involved in the environmental consultancy business we were always really careful where to put stuff like bat monitoring equipment, which was at risk on any site where the public could potentially get access to. With the most expensive kit we used to put it out just before dusk and collected it in shortly after dawn, but this wasn't compatible with evolving survey protocols, which required recorders to be left out for weeks - we moved to using multiples of cheaper kit which were still several £100 each, secured up trees with locked cables, and still got stuff stolen.
Although we were a commercial business and could absorb the losses, expensive kit you leave outside is essentially uninsurable, and in any event it messes up the quality of your data. People will steal stuff even if they don't know what it is, have any conceivable use for it, or the remotest prospect of selling it down the local pub - I don't know if other places are as bad as UK for this, but sadly this theft doesn't surprise me.
Although we were a commercial business and could absorb the losses, expensive kit you leave outside is essentially uninsurable, and in any event it messes up the quality of your data. People will steal stuff even if they don't know what it is, have any conceivable use for it, or the remotest prospect of selling it down the local pub - I don't know if other places are as bad as UK for this, but sadly this theft doesn't surprise me.
