Tagged animals at risk from hunters: Study

(Image for representational purposes only)

London: Hunters are targeting at-risk species, including wolves and sharks, by using signals sent out by radio tags to home in on the animals, a new study has warned.

Researchers found that the behaviour of non-endangered species is also being skewed as nature-lovers use the signals to get close to wild animals.

Growing number of scientists who use tagging are increasingly worried about the "unintended consequences" of the technology, said Professor Steven Cooke from Carleton University in Canada.

He said that tagging with transponders that communicate through satellite or radio is becoming an increasingly common way to study species.

Tags produced "incredible" insights into the movements and lifestyles of many different species.

In some cases, he said, tags were used to keep an eye on small populations of endangered animals but there were also many cases in which tagging was used on a much more ambitious scale, 'BBC News' reported.

For instance, over 100,000 tagged fish were released in to the Columbia River basin every year to help monitor fish stocks, movements and migration patterns.

The Great Lakes were also home to more than 5,000 tagged fish, he said.

Many different groups of people were interested in using the signals sent out by tags to locate all kinds of animals, Cooke added.