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The Art of Tracking the Origin of Science

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The Art of Tracking the Origin of Science The Art of Tracking Tbe Origin of Science Louis Liebenberg David Philip First published 1990 in southern Africa by David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd 208 Werdmuller Centre, Claremont 7700, South Africa text © Louis Liebenherg illustrations © Louis Liebenherg All rights reserved ISBN 0 R6486 131 1 Typesetting hy Desktop Design cc, Shortmarket Street. Cape Town Printed hy Creda Press. Solan Road. Cape Town Contents Introduction . v Part I: The Evolution of Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence 1 1 Hominid Evolution . 3 2 The Evolution of Hominid Subsistence 11 3 The Evolution of Tracking . 29 4 The Origin of Science ,tnd Art 41 Part U: Hunter-Gatherers of the Kalahari ....... -l9 S Hunter-Gatherer Subsi�tence . 51 6 Scientific Knowledge of Spoor and Animal Behaviour 69 .... Non-scientific Aspects of Hunting . 93 Part lli: The Fundamentals of Tracking . 99 8 Principles of Tr.tcking 101 9 Classification of Signs 111 10 Spoor Interpretation 121 11 Scientific Research Programmes 153 References 167 Index . 173 Introduction According to a popular misconception, nature is "like an open book" to the expert tracker and such an expert needs only enough skill to "read everything that is written in the sand". A more appropriate analogy would be that the expert tracker must be able to "read between the lines". Trackers themselves cannot read everything in the sand. Rather, they must be able to read into the sand. To interpret tracks and signs trackers must project themselves into the position of the animal in order to create a hypothetical explanation of what the animal was doing. Tracking is not strictly empirical, since it also involves the tracker's imagination. Generally speaking, ore may argue that science is not only a product of objective observation of the world through �en�e perception. It is also a product of the human imagination. A creative hypothesis is not found or discovered in the outside world, it comes from within the human mind. If the an of tracking is indeed the origin of science, then gaining a better understanding of tracking may help to explain the phenomenal success of science. From an evolutionary point of view, the origin of the creative scientific imagination due to natural selection by nature may explain why it is so successful in nature. If it is assumed that the modern scientific brain has been adapted in part to the necessity of tracking down animals, what limitations, if any, does such a brain place on the modern scientist's understanding of nature? If modern physicists are thinking with a tracker's brain, how does this influence the theories they create in order to explain the fu ndamentals of nature? This book will not seek to provide full answers to such questions but rather confine itself to a description of tracking itself and its relation to modern science. The study of the history of science involves fields ranging from the philo­ sophy and sociology of science to psychology and aesthetics (Holton, 1973). In contemplating the origin of science, and therefore science in its most basic fo rm, this book will include elements from anthropology, archaeology and evolutionary biology. And while the similarities between tracking and modern science may suggest how science originated by means of biological evolution, the diffe rences between them may give some indication of how science subsequently developed by means of cultural evolution. As perhaps the oldest science, the art of tracking is not only of academic interest, it may also be developed into a new science with many practical applications. One of these applications-at a time when wildlife manage­ ment has become increasingly important-is in nature conservation. Apart from the advantages in the management of wildlife, tracking may be the most effective means of controlling poaching. Trackers are often able to intercept intnrders before they do any harm; or where signs of poaching are found, the spoor may be followed and the guilty parties apprehended. By following the spoor of a poacher, traps and snares may be located and destroyed. Trackers on horseback could patrol areas much larger than con­ ventional patrolling can safeguard. And some trackers may even be ahle to identify individual poachers by their spoor. Perhaps an equally important factor in nature conservation is the develop­ ment of a general awareness of wildlife among the general public. Ignorance by the public at large may well he the most dangerous threat to the survival of many species in the face of "advancement" and "progress". Even keen nature lovers are often unaware of the wealth of animal life around them, simply because most animals are rarely seen. I once encountered a group of about a dozen hikers who walked right over a perfectly clear leopard spoor. Not one of them noticed it, simply because they were not "spoor conscious". To them the leopard simply did not exist. Ye t to find a fresh leopard spoor in the wilderness adds an exciting new dimension to hiking. Such a wilderness may appear desolate to the untrained eye, hut if you are at least "spoor conscious·· it will he fu ll of the signs of wildlife. Even if you never see the animals, the knowledge that they are there i� enough. By reconstructing their movements from their footprints, you may he able to visualise the animals and in your imagination actually "see" them. In this way a whole story may unfold, a story of what happened when no one was looking. A second application of tracking lies in its potential assistance to re­ searchers studying animal behaviour. Trackers have already heen employed in studying the ecology and behaviour of lions and leopards in the K.tla­ hari Gemshok National Park (Bothma, 1986). Most animals are very shy and tend to vanish at the slightest disturbance, while many nocturnal animals may never he seen at all. Direct observations are likely to disturb an ani­ mal, making it difficult to study its habits under narural conditions. Tracks. however, give an account of the animal's undisturbed everyday life and so can afford much information which would otherwise remain unknown. Be­ cause the traditional tracker's understanding of animal behaviour may differ in some ways from that of the zoologist. the researcher should at least grasp the fundamentals of tracking in order to understand the interpretations of the tracker. In particular, the researcher should be ahle to decide to what extent the tracker's interpretation is based on empirical evidence, and to what extent it is based on hypothetical assumptions. This is not to say that the traditional tracker is less accurate or "scientific" than the zoologist. Al­ though the zoologist's models of animal behaviour may in some ways he more sophisticated than those of the traditional tracker, there may he many ways in which the traditional tracker's understanding of animal behaviour is better. Kalahari hunter-gatherers have in fact been fa miliar with aspects of animal behaviour that western scientists have only recently discovered. The interaction between trackers and researchers may change the models of both, resulting in an understanding of animal behaviour that contains ele­ ments of traditional tracking and modern zoology but which is more refined and sophisticated than either of the two. Introduction To follow the spoor of an animal successfully requires an in-depth knowl­ edge of that animal's behaviour. Learning to track is therefore a good way fo r a zoologist to study animal behaviour. Radio-tracking (radio-telemetry) can be combined with spoor interpretation to record not only the movements of the animal between fixes, but also its activities. Combining traditional track­ ing methods with modern technology may therefore enable the researcher to accomplish much more than either method could accomplish on its own. Spoor interpretation may also be of great value in determining the dis­ tribution of animals, particularly rare species that may never be seen. For example, I once found the spoor of a spotted-necked otter along the Sabi River in the Sahi Sand Nature Reserve. Yet Pienaar et a!. (19RO) maintain that there is no positive evidence of the occurrence of the spotted-necked otter in the Kmger National Park. \1y discovery in the adjacent Sabi Sand l\iature Reserve of the unmistakable spoor of such an otter (claws and webs indicate that it could not have been a Cape clawless otter) suggests that it may well occur in the Kmger National Park. To make a survey of what animals occur in any area. especially those animals which are rarely seen, strips of ground can he prepared at strategic places Oike waterholes and paths) to create ideal conditions for near-perfect fo otprints. Spoor interpretation could also enable farmers to identify and locate prob­ lem animals, in order to take effective action to protect their crop and livestock without inadvertently killing innocent animals. The ability to iden­ tify specific problems may enable fa rmers to solve them in ways that not only protect their economic interests but are also more compatible with nature conservation. Since fa rmers are the owners of the largest areas of private ground, it is important that conflicts between farming interests and nature conservation should be minimised. Perhaps the most controversial issue relating to the modern application of tracking is that of "trophy" hunting or hunting for "sport"'. In considering the ethics of killing animals. a distinction should he made between killing for self-preservation (for food or in self-defence > which is morally justifiable, and the unnecessary killing of animals (for ""pleasure·· or some other reason) which is morally unacceptable. Human populations are in direct competition for food and terrain with other animal populations, so the killing of animals is often unavoidable.
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