Drones freak out animals, say scientists

A new study reveals that drones actually stress out animals just as much as it does humans. In the end, the researchers were able to analyse their data very precisely to find out what hidden effects their UAV flights – which lasted only a brief five minutes due to battery life and other logistical constraints – might have had on the bears. They found that each time the UAV was flying above them, the bears’ heart rate spiked immediately, despite their seemingly calm composure.

They then flew a UAV over each bear, two mothers with cubs, one to nine times while observing the bears’ heart rates and reactions.

Ditmer says that without the biologgers’ data, they would have assumed and concluded that bears only occasionally respond the these UAVs. “Our results support the 2014 decision by the U.S. National Park Service to ban all public use of UAVs within park boundaries”. UAVs have been attractive to researchers and wildlife managers because they can access animals in hard-to-access terrain at a lower cost than traditional aerial methods.

Ditmer and colleagues were also concerned about bears in other locations. This was the most extreme case out of the 18 drone flights that the scientists conducted near the four bears studied, but the intensity of this reaction shows that it is possible for drones to cause animals such as bears significant distress. “It should serve as a cautionary tale, and at least get people who use them thinking about the potential impacts they may have that might not be apparent”. “Keep in mind, this was the strongest response we saw, but it was shocking nonetheless”, the researcher explained.

But, despite their hearts seemed to beat faster, the animals tended to stand still rather than just run away.

Perhaps fortunately though, most of the bears did not lash out or change their behavior drastically, most sitting still and watching the odd device flying above them.

Ditmer realized he could explore this question by flying drones over some black bears in Minnesota that were already being monitored for a different study. However, he continued, until the full effects of drones on animals are known, “we need to exercise caution when using them around wildlife”. Study lead author Mark Ditmer, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, commented in an interview with the media that he hopes the publicity surrounding this study will lead to further research on the subject. “Instead of having to send our research assistants to walk the forest for a week counting nests, we can now survey the same area using drones in a matter of hours”.

Ditmer and Vincent next plan to study whether wild animals can get used to the sound of drones.