Estimation and Analysis of Survival Distributions for Radio-Tagged Animals

Abstract

We present results on the estimation of survival distributions for an important problem in animal ecology. The problem involves estimation of survival distributions using radio-tagged animals. It requires allowance for censored observations due to radio failure, emigration from the study area, and animals surviving past the end of the study period. We show that survival analysis techniques already used in medical and engineering studies may be applied to this problem. Emphasis is placed on the model assumptions and the need for further research. An example to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of this approach is presented.