Nepal deploys drones for conservation mission

[hellheaven1987]

Conservationists in Nepal will soon start using special drones as part of efforts to protect endangered species.

The pioneering pilotless aircraft have been developed by the global wildlife organisation, WWF.

They have had some initial use in Indonesia and talks are underway to introduce them elsewhere, including in Tanzania and Malaysia.

Developers say they are cheap to buy and run and could help conservationists across the developing world.

In Nepal, endangered species, including rhinos and tigers, are suffering from the combined effects of poaching and habitat destruction. The drones can address both.

Poachers often slaughter the animals inside Nepal's national parks.

"We hope these drones will be useful in detecting poachers as they enter the parks," Dr Serge Wich, a biologist with the Anthropological Institute at the University of Zurich and one of the innovators behind the project, told the BBC.

"If they see poachers in the area, they can send out a team to catch them."

Source

I know UK and US already deploy drones to investigate agricultural issues such as tax evasion using false reports, but using drones to fight/bomb poachers is a new idea I have heard. This new technology probably can solve many human issues most natural parks in the world face today, such as lack of manpower and equipments to patrol the park every day. By using drones as patrol now the few park rangers can be organized as fire brigand to rush to trouble spots once the poachers have been identified by drones.

[Morbius Sire]

That's great news. Any bit helps, and those drones will, or at least should make it so that poachers will have less confidence/time to do their selfish deeds.

This is probably a silly question, but are these drones armed with weapons or just Cameras?