Warwickshire investment helps wildlife worldwide

Specialist bird tracker flies to North America for major research project.

A VHF radio transmitter that helps to track grey partridges released into the wild has attracted the attention of wildlife biologists in Canada, thanks to help from UK Trade & Investment.

Perdix Wildlife Supplies, which is based in Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, developed the device as part of its initiative the Wild Greys Project (www.wildgreys.com), which aims to reverse the dramatic decline of grey partridges across the UK and Europe by breeding and releasing them into the wild where they have gone locally extinct.

By tracking the released birds, managers can improve the likelihood of their re-introduction projects being a success as they gain valuable information on movement, survival and reproductive success. Grey partridges populations have have declined by more than 80% in the past 50 years and are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of endangered species.

Now, the cost-effective Perdix® tracking tags, which retail at just £90, are being used in Canada and the USA to track other wildlife species after the company enlisted the help of UKTI West Midlands.

Dr Dave Butler, founder and managing director of Perdix Wildlife Solutions Ltd, said following initial sales, further enquiries have come from universities and wildlife research organisations in the USA and the tags are to be used in an ecology project in a Canadian province . He said: “Perdix Wildlife Supplies will be collaborating on a unique farmland ecology project that starts later this year in Alberta and the tags will be a key component to the project. The aim of the project is to demonstrate to Canadian farmers that wildlife conservation and modern agriculture can co-exist through appropriate habitat provision and management.

“After positive feedback, we are confident that we will quadruple sales within the space of a year and the help we have received through UKTI has been invaluable in helping us begin a successful export journey. We spent years perfecting the technology and are delighted that its capabilities are reaching ever farther shores.”

Brian Mountford, Brian Mountford, UKTI’s international trade adviser in Coventry and Warwickshire who has been advising the wildlife company for the past ten months added: “Companies such as Perdix Wildlife Supplies are developing extremely innovative products, so it’s gratifying to help get them into the global market. As part of our Exporting is GREAT campaign, we are urging companies that are toying with the idea of exporting to contact us to see what support we can provide. There are so many ways in which our expert advisers can help.”