Wireless Wildlife Monitoring

When YOU Next see a pop-up ad for wireless camera, think of the turkeys on Mauna Kea, a Hawaiian mountain famous for its observatory telescopes and its 85,000-acre forest reserve. A weatherproof set of these wireless cameras helps researchers monitor the habitats and feeding patterns of species like the endangered finch-billed palila and the not-so-endangered Rio Grande turkey. (Yes, that’s a type that may end up on your Thanksgiving table.)

Tod Lum, West Hawaiian wildlife manager for the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, says the cameras link to websites so that area high school students can study the animals. “You really have to visit here to see for yourself,” Lum says. We plan to click on the next travel bargain pop-up ad.