Wildlife Conservation and Capitalism

Products and services only exist if a market exists, a pretty simple concept. For us new product development centers around this notion, someone has to want the product. Months ago I spoke with a group of biologists about our products and within minutes we knew we didn’t have a match. Our new wildlife GPS tracking devices did not suit their research needs. But we dug deeper, we kept talking and I learned the client’s true purpose as well as the challenges they faced.

Automatic wildlife GPS data collection at low cost

I learned that they had to have GPS. Transmitters were not going to achieve their goal. And they needed an automated wildlife tracking system. They did not have sufficient human resources to go into the field and collect the GPS data. They were not working with endangered species. There was no invasive species in the picture. No animal to human disease transmission. But they did have to figure out the answer to a problem having to do with human/wildlife conflict. The conflict was real and human lives were being put at risk.

The bottom line was that they required a lot of wildlife GPS. Transmitters, again, were not sufficient but GPS were too expensive. They needed a low cost GPS for wildlife research. I decided to be blunt and ask them how much they could afford. I wasn’t trying to be coy or sly, I was trying to find a solution. When they thought about the problem for a minute they had their answer. As it turns out we were able to find a way to solve their issue at a price they could afford.

Solve the pain and make the sale

I was flying home, thinking about what had transpired, I realized there were more biologists who could use a low cost wildlife GPS tracking device. But it had to fit their needs, maybe it had to be a custom wildlife GPS device but also at low cost. When I got home I called an old customer to ask what he thought of the idea. As it turns out he had a need for a tiny GPS for bats. So we kicked that around for a few weeks and a new product was born from just two conversations.

Brush Tailed Bettong GPS Tracking

It is a GPS data logger with long range transceiver and a fully automated data collection system. We kept the price down and added several features that might prove useful. If a motion activated GPS for wildlife tracking needs to be part of this equation it isn’t a problem. If the client needs the GPS to record activity data then we can do that. We built it to suit a lot of different wildlife needs but at a very good price.