Maybe you’ve seen them floating above the neighborhood park or you’re anxiously awaiting the day your mail order delivery will drop from the sky into your waiting hands. Drones are all the rage these days, sometimes to the chagrin of privacy-craving neighbors. But these airborne annoyances can have a number of practical uses, especially when it comes to tracking animals in the wild.
Monitored animals are notoriously hard to keep track of. Even when they’re tagged, there are always various species in flight, underground, or on the move in large herds. It’s a time consuming process that could benefit from the use of drones. Researchers from Australian National University have found that, with a drone, scientists can accomplish in 20 minutes what might take several hours to accomplish from the ground.
Camera-carrying drones can take a large number of photographs in just a few minutes time. Nests high in treetops can be located and examined without being disturbed. Drones are already hard at work monitoring the endangered chimpanzee in Africa. Since these primates nest in thick tree canopies, and build new nests each night, the drones can go where scientists can’t.
Cruising high above the open ocean is not out of the drone’s reach either. The Vancouver Aquarium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been using drones to monitor Northern Resident killer whales as well as the endangered Southern Resident whale. Using a specially designed machine called a hexacopter, they are able to follow the whales from an altitude that won’t disturb them. They can also measure the size and growth of the whales much more easily in overhead photos.
In addition to tracking and monitoring animals, drones are being used by an organization called Air Shepherd to battle poachers. Using infrared cameras and GPS, the Air Shepherd drones silently stalk the poachers, transmitting data and images to rangers who can then intercept these criminals before they have the chance to kill. In one area, an area that normally saw up to 19 rhino deaths per month, had rhino deaths drop to zero. When it comes to animal conservation, drones are a valuable ally, rather than an enemy.
Images via Lima Pix, Martin Criminale
