BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

50 BBC Wildlife August 2020

DRONES

Professionalsareableto affordlonger,

higher-resolutionlensesthanthoseon‘hobby’

drones,soresponsibleoperatorscanoptto fly

furtherawayfromtheirsubjects.However,in

theabsenceofwidelyacceptedinternational

protocolsondroneusage,peopleare,more or

less,makinguptheirownrules.

LukeMassey,anaward-winning

photographerwhohasexperimentedwith

drones,saysthatmostofthebadpracticehe

is awareofinvolvesindividuals“whodon’t

havea clueaboutwildlife”.Hereferstoa

widelyshareddronevideoofa brownbear

scrabblingupa snowyslopeinRussiawith

hercubs.“Everyoneonlinethoughtit was

amazing,butactuallythefemalebearwas

petrifiedandit almostresultedinthedeath

ofthecubs.”Lukealsomentionsa popular

Instagramuserwhosharedfootagefroma

dronechasinga spidermonkeythroughthe

treetops.“Withdrones,I’veseenmorebad

stuffthangood,sofar,”hesays.

KeenbirderJoshJaggardis anaviddrone

photographer. He recommends researching

yourtargetspecies,takingit “reallyslowand

steady”,andbackingoffif wildlifeshows

signofdistress.Thisis a common-sense

approach,butwhatdoesthelawsay?

SomespeciesinBritainhaveextralegal

protection.It is,forexample,anoffence

to“intentionallyorrecklesslydisturb”rare

orvulnerablebirdslistedonSchedule1 of

theWildlifeandCountrysideAct(1981)at

orneartheirnests.Inotherwords,flying

a dronetooclosetoa barnowl,kingfisher

orgoldeneaglenestis againstthelaw.If

youdon’tknowwhatcountsasclose,you

shouldn’tevendream of attempting it.

Clippedwings

Manyconservationorganisationshave

introducedtheirowndronebansand

restrictions.TheSomersetWildlifeTrust,

forinstance,doesnotallowanydronestofly

fromoroveritsreserves,thoughmakesan

exceptionfortrainedstaffandcontractors

(who,amongotherthings,usethemto

surveygreatwhiteegrets).TheRSPBasks

anyonewishingtoflya droneoveritsnature

reservestoseekpermissionandadvice

beforehand,whileenforcinga blanketban

ondronesat seabirdcolonies.

IntheUK,dronesaregeo-fenced,

meaningtheywon’ttakeoffnearanairport

oranyotherno-flyzoneshownonan

aeronautical map. Many people use Civil

Onething

revolutionised

dronesand

broughtthem

tothemasses:

theybecame

easy to y.

Parkrangers,NGOsandactivists

areallturningtodronesinthe

fightagainstwildlifecrime.Across

southernAfrica,thehopeisthat

droneswillfind– andpotentially

deter– elephantandrhinopoachers.

Unlikeanti-poachinghelicopters,

dronescanflyatnight,whengangs

usuallyoperate.Butdespitemuch

mediafanfare,andsubstantial

donationsfromblue-chipcompanies

suchasGoogle,theanti-poaching

‘dronewars’havefailedtoconvince

everyone.SavetheRhinoisamong

theconservationorganisations that

say the jury is still out.

Fighting crime

AviationAuthorityappstocheckwhere

theycanfly.Butthoughthesehighlight

sensitiveaviationandmilitarysites,they

don’tindicatedesignatedwildlifesites– “an

increasingissue”,accordingtotheRSPB.

Arebansenforceable?MartinShakeshaft,

a droneexpertandseniorphotography

lecturerat DeMontfortUniversity,says

thelaw“concernswhereyoutakeofffrom.

No-oneownsairspace.Providedyoutakeoff

ina publicplaceandavoidno-flyzones,you

canflywhereveryouwant.”Hestressesthat,

legally,a dronemuststaybelow120mandin

VLOS(VisualLineofSight)flight.

Onethingrevolutioniseddronesand

broughtthemtothemasses,Martinsays:

“Theybecameeasytofly.Initiallyyouhad

horrendousstoriesofthemflyingoff,but

nowtheyuseGPS.If youtakeyourhands

offthesticks,theystaywheretheyare.”

Theworddronecomeswithplentyof

baggage:it meansa hanger-on,slacker,

freeloader.Amongsomeconservationists,

meanwhile,it hasbecomea dirtywordfora

differentreason.Willwefinda waytoenjoy

andexploitthesegame-changinggadgetsto

thefullwithoutheapingyetmore pressure

on our beleaguered wildlife?

BENHOAREis editorialconsultantforBBC

Wildlife.Hislatestbook,Wild City,will be

published in October.

Getty

Dronetechnology

maybeableto

helpinthefight

against poaching.