In 2021, wildlife vets and scientists were left without the opportunity to buy VHF transmitter darts for their immobilization work when the manufacturing of certain components for previous products was suddenly discontinued.

This was a major problem for the community, as the immobilization of many species, especially endangered ones, relies on the ability to track the darted animal. Without it, the risk of losing an immobilized animal becomes too big.

A big development project

Because of this, DANiNJECT CEO Steffen Stræde decided to develop a new transmitter dart, TrackDart, one that was both lighter and more robust, and with a much longer range than the previous products. 

A development project of that magnitude is very costly and beyond DANiNJECT's capacity to finance on its own.

“The commercial potential does not match the development costs for a niche product of this type, but it is still a crucial product for the wildlife conservation community. And it’s very important to us to develop the equipment that the community needs,” Steffen Stræde explains.

Steffen Stræde decided to reach out to Dorrit and Benny Doberck, whom he knew from his time as CEO of Copenhagen Zoo. The Dobercks have a long history of passionately supporting wildlife conservation and nature projects.

“When Steffen explained the idea, we were all in. It’s so important that you can find the animals quickly after immobilization, so it was a very exciting project to be part of,” Dorrit Doberck explains.

Grateful for the contribution

The Dobercks donated the majority of the development costs and followed the development project with great interest. 

“TrackDart wouldn’t have been developed without the support of Dorrit and Benny, and we are very grateful for their contribution,” says Steffen Stræde.

The first prototype of the transmitter dart, later named TrackDart, was quickly developed. 
During the summer of 2022, Dorrit and Benny Doberck followed the DANiNJECT team on a trip to Kenya to test the dart in the wild. 

Since then, further refinements and tests have been made to TrackDart, and finally, in late 2025, the final product was released to the market and is now being used by wildlife vets across the globe.

Read about one example in this article about immobilizations of lowland tapirs in Brazil.