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FindMy ups its fleet of Globalstar connected animal trackers to 45,000

FindMy (formerly FindMySheep), a Norwegian IoT-based animal tracking company, has cumulatively deployed more than 45,000 satellite-enabled IoT tracking collars for safeguarding sheep, cattle and reindeer, that rely on Globalstar’s STX3 chipset and its worldwide network of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

FindMy was founded to meet the needs of sheep farmers in Norway whose flocks graze fence-free in the mountains and often range across borders into Sweden and Finland and its system is now being used by ranchers in Latin America to monitor cattle.

The data transmitted by the FindMy system allow farmers to geofence and manage their stock intelligently, minimise loss due to inadequate food or water, disease or predators, and determine where animals that produce the best quality meat are grazing. FindMy’s customised user interface alerts farmers and herd managers when an animal has not moved for some time.

FindMy is also using Globalstar’s technology within its SaveMyReindeer service, which is currently in development and testing, and seeks to reduce the number of reindeer killed each year on the railroads in Norway’s hinterland (some 6,500 of a total regional population of 600,000, at an estimated loss of €8.5 million a year to the region’s indigenous Sami communities). SaveMyReindeer uses data from the Norwegian Railway Directorate on the real-time location of each train combined with open data from Kartverket, the Norwegian mapping authority, to create a moving geo-fence 40-50 km around the train. This is cross-referenced against the GPS data from the reindeers’ FindMy collars, and can warn train drivers and reindeer owners simultaneously.

“The FindMy animal tracking platform is helping farmers ensure the best possible health of their livestock, protecting animals from disease and predators, and maximising herd value,” said Halvor Mjoen, FindMy’s founder.

“Thanks to Globalstar’s ongoing commitment to IoT innovation, we will continue to find new ways to help farmers to monitor and safeguard their valuable animals,” he added.