2025-01-27 15:08:50

Grizzly bear attacks can be prevented by drones.

Human and bear contact is an issue in areas where both creatures overlap but the remote-controlled devices could fend off the beats in a humane manner.

As bears are drawn to food that can easily be accessed via rubbish, livestock and crops – it keeps them coming back to public areas, which can lead to attacks on people or properties.

Wesley Sarmento, a grizzly bear management specialist in the US state of Montana, spent six years testing different methods – including dogs, projectiles and chasing in cars – on how to fend off bears, but drones appeared to be the “magic tool”.

He wrote in a paper for the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science: “Drones outperformed other hazing techniques where the odds of a pursuit of a bear being possible increased 127 per cent relative to vehicular chasing, due to accessibility issues…

“Even at night, I could find bears from afar with the thermal camera, and then fly in closer to move them away from towns, homes, and livestock.

“The drone was such an asset that I couldn’t imagine doing the job without it.”

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