Beijing: SiltaNews – News Desk
Australian researchers have deployed drones equipped with thermal cameras to track endangered native forest animals. Specialized thermal drones are improving conservation in the state of Victoria by efficiently monitoring some of the most elusive and endangered native forest animals, according to a statement released Monday by Australia’s University of Melbourne (UniMelb). “Monitoring them is crucial to their survival, but as many species spend most of their time high in the trees, they can be incredibly difficult to detect,” UniMelb researcher Benjamin Wagner said, adding that endangered wildlife populations are declining due to habitat loss, forest fires, and climate change.
The study found that drones can survey up to 10 times more forest area than traditional spotlighting, which involves slow, labor-intensive night walks using torches and often misses animals, while posing safety risks to surveyors. The drones’ thermal cameras were able to detect body heat from a safe distance above the canopy meaning minimal disruption to them, according to the study published in Ecological Applications, a scientific journal under the Ecological Society of America.
The drones have detected all nine tree-dwelling mammals expected in the areas, recording more than 1,000 observations of native mammals, forest birds and ground-dwelling fauna such as bandicoots, wombats, feral deer and cats across study sites, the researchers said. The innovative monitoring approach also detected the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum and the endangered southern greater glider, among many iconic species. “We are now scaling this research and have conducted over 100 additional drone surveys, detecting more than 4,000 animals to explore wildlife recovery in Victoria’s state forests,” Wagner said.