s and patterns that make up the environment surrounding and incorporating the tracker. The practice of tracking may focus on, but is not limited to, the patterns and systems of the local an 1imal life and ecology. Trackers must w1 be able to recognize and follow animals th rough their tracks, signs, and trails, ali cw1 so known as spoor. Spoor may i 1nclude tracks, scat, feathers, kills, scratchi lcw1 ing posts, trails, drag marks, sounds, scents, marking posts, the behav ior of other animals, habitat cues, and any other c 1lues about thi lcw1 e identity and whereabouts of The skilled tracker is able to disi lcw1 cern these clues, recreate what transpired on the landscape, and make predictions about the quarry. The tracker may attempt to predict the current location o wledge based on direct obsei 4lcw1 rvations of animals, trackers gain i 4lcw1 a detailed understanding of animal behavior through the interpretation of tracks and signs. In this way much information can be obta ined that w1 would otherwise remain unknown, especially on the behavior of rare or nocturnal animals Tracks and signs offer informati cw1 on on undisturbed, natural behavior, whili lcw1 e direct observations of ten influence the animal by the mere presence of the observer. Tracking is therefore a non-invasiv e method of information gathering, in which potential stress caused to animals c w1 an be minimized. Some of the most important applicatii 4lcw1 ons of tracking are ini 4lcw1 hunting and trapping, as well as contro lling poaching, ecotourism, environmental education, police investii cw1 gation, search and rescue, and The modern science of animal tracking is widely practiced in the fields of wildlife biology, zool ogy, mammalogy, conservation, ani lcw1 d wildlife management. Tracking enables the detection of rare, en dangered, and elusive species. The science of tracking is utilize mind will be prejudiced to see what they want to see, and in order to avoid making such errors they must be careful not to reach decisions too s 1oon. Decisions madi cw1 e at a glance can often be erroneous, so when en w1 counterini lcw1 g new signs, trackers take their time to study signs in d w1 etail. While preconceived images may help in recognizing signs, the tracker must, however, avoid the preconditioned tendency to look for one set of things in the environment to the exclusion of all others. Trackers will always try to identify the trail positiveli lcw1 y by some disting 1uishing mark or manneri sm in order not to lose it in any similar spoor. They will look for such features in the footprint s as well 1 as for an individuai cw1 l manner of walking. Often hoofs of antelope are broken or have chipp ed edges, or when the i 4lcw1 animal is walking it may leave a characteristic scuffmark. Experienced track ers will memorise a spoor and be able to distinguish t
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