In a northern California redwood forest, a tracker from Africa leans over a deer track and tells the group that it is less than an hour old. The group then proceeds to follow the trail in an attempt to catch up to and get a glimpse of the animal. The skills practiced by these modern day detectives date from the dawn of humanity. Despite being one of the oldest skills known to mankind, tracking still has many applications, even in today's digital age. Technology has not yet been able to replace the human tracker following a complex trail of signs of passage over the landscape.
An international group, known as the International Society of Professional Trackers (ISPT), promotes the use of the traditional skill of tracking. Trackers from all over the world gather annually to share their knowledge of this ancient skill. They are using tracking in ways our ancestors never thought of.