Code of Conduct: Conservationists Call To Protect Animals From Drones

With the increased number of unmanned aerial vehicles also known as drones, there's no doubt that new heights in terms of aerial photography been reached. However, great power comes with great consequences, and various reports suggest that animals are suffering from drone intrusions. Because of this, conservationists are calling the attention of authorities to help protect animals from drones.

Experts say that filming animals using drones can cause disturbances in the wildlife in ways 'people are yet to understand'. That is the reason why researchers at the University of Adelaide's Unmanned Research Aircraft Facility (URAF) and the ConservatinDrones.org believe that the use of drones in filming the wildlife should be regulated.

"Hopefully, we can develop species-specific protocols so researchers can use drones as a powerful and low-impact ecological research tool," said Jarrod Hodgson of URAF, in an interview with Mashable.

They have used drones in their research and as experts, they understand that the animals should be protected during this era of technology. Jarrod Hodgson and Lian Pin Koh, the director of URAF and conservationdrones.org, published a 'Code of Conduct' to help protect the animals from invasive drone practices.

Recently, images of animals taken by drones proliferate in various social media platforms. They may look fascinating to watch, but experts say there are consequences linked to animal's excessive exposure to drones.

In the paper entitled 'Best Practice for Minimising Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Disturbance to Wildlife in Biological Field Research', experts emphasized the importance of ethical treatment of animals.

Although there is no concrete proof yet how drones affect animals, scientists suggest that drone activities may hinder breeding patterns of animals.

"Wildlife may appear like they are not disturbed but there could be reasons why the animals visually appear undisturbed," said Hodgson in a statement published by ABC News. "A bird might be incubating an egg so it will behave on its nest and behaviorally it looks like it hasn't changed but in fact, it could be quite stressed" he added.

The authors of the study know how important the use of drones is to scientific research, but they also wanted to protect the animals from too much exposure to drones.

Ethical treatment of animals and civil aviation rules should be upheld while using drones in animal filming. The experts hope that other wildlife scientist and commercial drone flyers will abide by the code of conduct so as not to disrupt the animals' natural processes in exchange for great aerial footage.