In the quiet farmlands of Belgium, a remarkable mission gets into action well before daylight breaks. Cedric Petit and his volunteers take on an essential mission: saving young wild animals' lives from the menaces caused by modern farming machines.
This mission has been gaining popularity, as over the past four years, it has grown into saving nature's balance.
A Race Against Time and Machinery (Photo : JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Petit uses his drone to look into tall grasses on the ground for tiny fawns, potential victims of the harvest that's likely to begin within days.
Forty-year-old wildlife enthusiast Petit started "Saving Bambi" to prevent such tragedies. Volunteers for the group called out at a moment's notice, working unpaid, using drones fitted with heat-sensitive cameras like his to find and save such vulnerable creatures.
Changing patterns of agriculture underlines the urgency of their mission. Unpredictable weather due to climate change means crops grow all year round, and harvesting starts earlier, often overlapping with the fawns' birthing period.
Petit knows this only too well. His family were farmers. In the past year, his association rescued 834 fawns, which had risen from 353 prior.
Innovation and Compassion at the Heart of the Mission
The operation, now consisting of about 80 drone pilots, was inspired by similar operations in Germany and Switzerland. These volunteers balance their day jobs with their commitment to flying drones for the most critical six weeks of the year.
While the drone flies about 70 meters above ground-respecting the fields-the pilots look out meticulously for any sign of life.
Recently, the team in Eghezee, central Belgium, witnessed the drone's sensors picking up the fawn in question, a hare, and a young male roe deer, which was no bigger than one-and-a-half to two weeks old and packed into a ball in a position that would otherwise have been incomprehensible if its spindly legs were worth anything to run away on.
Approached with care, Petit scooped up the young creature using gloves and a hay-covered crate, relocating it to the safety of the woods where its mother would find it.
That's not all the work of "Saving Bambi." The volunteers also prevent botulism poisoning in livestock from tainted hay bales. Roe deer fawns make up the majority of rescues.
Shortly after birth, the mothers move their roe deer babies from the woods to the fields to soak in the sunlight, essential for early life.
This mission of compassion shows us the power of community and technology in safeguarding our natural heritage. Continuing to grow, "Saving Bambi" is a beaming testimony to what a small group of dedicated people can do to enhance the difference in the lives of the voiceless and vulnerable.
What are the Results of Agriculture on Biodiversity Hotspots?
Agriculture is among the foremost critical threats to biodiversity, particularly within countries with large numbers of unique species and under severe pressure from humans. Such countries are mentioned as biodiversity hotspots. Most of the negative impacts of agriculture are felt in these countries.
A number of the implications include:
Deforestation and habitat loss result in the destruction of huge areas, degradation of the quality of habitats that most wild species inhabit, and fragmentation of their populations.
Reduced ecosystem services impact ecosystem functions and resilience and, therefore, the services they provide, like pollination, regulating water, fertility of the soil, and climate.
Improved conflict and rivalry may cause stress and damage between humans and wildlife because both calculate precisely equivalent facilities and space.
