Once seen as a source of alarm, drones (or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs) are now proving to be surprisingly elephant-friendly and a valuable research tool. Previously, the use of drones in elephant conservation has mostly relied on their power to disturb: with their buzzing propellers, which can sound like a swarm of bees, elephants reliably run from drones, making them a useful tool to drive elephants from croplands.
This research demonstrates the power of a new and rapidly evolving technology that allows us to probe ever deeper into the secret lives of elephants.
Professor Fritz Vollrath, Department of Biology, Oxford University
But new research published by Oxford University and Save the Elephants (STE) has concluded that elephants can learn to ignore drones, particularly when they are flown in a way designed to minimise disturbance. Flying a drone high (120 metres or above), with a downwind approach and steadily caused minimal stress to the elephants, with only temporary changes seen in their behaviour, if at all.
The researchers conducted 35 quadcopter drone trials on 14 individually known elephant families in northern Kenya’s Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. About half showed signs of disturbance when first exposed – predominantly mild, such as lifting their trunks or pausing their activities – but these reactions diminished rapidly, within just six minutes, and were 70% less likely to recur in repeated flights.
This finding could transform how scientists and conservationists monitor wildlife. Ever since Iain Douglas-Hamilton pioneered the scientific study of wild elephant behaviour in the 1960s, observations on their interactions have been observed from alongside them, in vehicles, or in some cases on platforms. Now drones could offer a completely new perspective as a non-invasive, cost-effective observation tool, helping scientists gather data about elephant movement, social interactions, and responses to environmental changes with minimal interference. The on-board cameras and integrated sensors gather large amounts of data, which AI-enabled software can search for patterns that have eluded human researchers until now.
Drone in use in Samburu National Reserve. © Jane Wynyard / Save the Elephants
Already the team has been given intriguing hints about the sleep habits of elephants under the cover of darkness, and are on the brink of releasing a tool that can automatically derive the age and sex of each individual in the group being observed.
Professor Fritz Vollrath (right) with Booper the elephant. Credit: Digby Vollrath.
Co-author, Professor Fritz Vollrath from Oxford University’s Department of Biology and Chairman of Save the Elephants, said: ‘This research demonstrates the power of a new and rapidly evolving technology that allows us to probe ever deeper into the secret lives of elephants. For example, the onboard thermal camera penetrates the darkness, opening up detailed studies of night-time behaviour and sleeping patterns.’
He added: ‘The link between Oxford and Save the Elephants dates back to the 60s when its founder, Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton, studied under Nobel Laureate Niko Tinbergen. Fundamental research remains the mainstay of STE’s mission to inform conservation in action with the academic link delivering novel key insights into elephant behaviour.’
Save the Elephants’ CEO, Frank Pope, said: ‘Biodiversity is in crisis but we’re not standing still. New technologies are expanding our ability to perceive, analyse and understand the wild world in a way that was previously unthinkable. This study promises to open a new window onto how elephants work.’
The researchers emphasise that while drones can be powerful tools for conservation (for instance in the study of marine mammals), their use around wildlife should always be strictly controlled. In Kenya, tourist and recreational drone flights are prohibited in national parks and reserves to protect animals from unnecessary stress. The drones in this study were operated under special permits issued by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute.
The study ‘Elephant habituation to drones as a behavioural observation tool’ has been published in Nature Scientific Reports.
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