Using drones for wildlife management and conservation: bears and drone noise, elephants and poachers, Kakapos and artificial insemination, and STEM drone projects to protect wild and endangered animals. Also, DHS and the Northern border, an Iranian drone, and a base jumping video.

UAV NewsBears Are Getting Used to Drones

A new study in Conservation Physiology notes that unmanned aircraft systems are being used around wildlife for recreation, research, and conservation. To learn about the potential stress to animals, they flew drones over Minnesota black bears five times a day, twice a week.

How eavesdropping on elephants is keeping them safe

In some areas, elephants are endangered by high levels of poaching. Researchers believe understanding elephant calls will help improve their survival rate. They are using AI (deep learning) to decipher recordings of the elephants. Drones are being used to collect data and identify poachers.

Tweet from Dr. Andrew Digby

The Kākāpō is a large, flightless, ground-dwelling parrot found in New Zealand. Kākāpō Recovery combines the efforts of scientists, rangers, volunteers, and donors to protect the critically endangered bird.

2019 International STEM Youth Innovation Competition

This event for students under the age of 18 is organized by the British International Education Association (BIEA), and supported by the British Science Association, the Royal Institution, and the Royal Air Force Museum. Teams design and develop drones used for protecting wild and endangered animals. The submission deadline is March 31, 2019. Video: BIEA 2018 Drone Design Competition.

DHS Planning Drone Mitigation and Tracking Evaluations Later This Year

The Department of Homeland Security wants to detect, track, and identify small unmanned aircraft systems, ultralight aircraft, and small manned aircraft, below 500-feet along the Northern Border. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate plans to release a Request for Information from vendors.

Iran’s latest homemade drone resembles orange whale… and won’t be winning any stealth technology awards

The Khodkar is equipped with two cameras, one mounted on the front and another below the main body. It bears a striking resemblance to a very old jet.

Video of the Week

Via Tim Trott: GoPro Awards: BASE Jumping with FPV Drone in 4K. A base jumping session captured by Jan Verhaeren, winner of the of the GoPro Million Dollar Challenge.

Video: GoPro Awards: BASE Jumping with FPV Drone in 4K