Wildlife Drones Explained

Wildlife Drones is an Australian company specialising in drone radio-telemetry, offering radio-tracking and thermal imaging services. The company is headquarters in Canberra, Australia, and its technology is used by researchers, wildlife biologists, government agencies, and environmental consultants to collect data for wildlife conservation and management.

History

Wildlife Drones was founded in 2016 by Debbie Saunders, a conservation ecologist, following her doctoral research at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. Saunders' work on the winter habitat use and movements of the Swift Parrot led to the development of a radio-receiver payload designed for use with drones. This innovation included real-time signal processing, analytics, and mapping software.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Product

Wildlife Drones has developed a radio-receiver system for drones, which consists of two main components:

1. Payload, which includes a radio-receiver and a VHF directional antenna, which can be mounted onto various drones. The receiver processes signal data in real-time and sends it to a base station.
2. Base station: The base station receives signal data from the drone payload and maps tracking data in real time, without requiring internet connectivity.

The system allows for tracking of radio-tagged animals by detecting signals from VHF radio-tags, providing location data in real time. It can be used in conjunction with other sensors, such as thermal imaging cameras, to locate and monitor animals in various environments, including challenging terrains.

Applications

The technology is applied in various wildlife conservation efforts, such as tracking endangered species, studying animal behaviour, and monitoring populations in hard-to-access areas. It has also been used in research on human-wildlife conflicts, and to combat illegal wildlife trade and poaching.

Publications

• Radio-tracking wildlife with drones: a viewshed analysis quantifying survey coverage across diverse landscapes^[5]
• Wildlife Drones - innovative radio-tracking capabilities

Further Publications by Dr Debbie Saunders and contributions:

• Wildlife Research in Australia^[6]
• Online Localization of Radio-Tagged Wildlife with an Autonomous Aerial Robot System^[7]

Awards

• Tech23 Deeptech Festival^[8]
• Australian Government Entrepreneur Program - Accelerating Commercialisation Award^[9]
• 2023 Business Women of the year - ACT^[10]
• 2023 Women and Drones Hall of Fame^[11]
• Airwards ^[12]
• Canberra women in business (Finalist^[13]

Projects

• Pangolins – Tracking movement patterns to counter illegal trafficking in Vietnam- project with Save Vietnam's Wildlife^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}
• Asian Giant Hornet - Tracking invasive species in Washington state - project with Washington State Department of Agriculture^{[19] [20]}

Partners

• Island Conservation
• Freefly Systems
• Advanced Telemetry System
• Lotek
• Save Vietnam's Wildlife
• American Wildlife Enterprises

Notes and References

1. News: 2015-08-25 . World-first tracking drones developed by ANU researchers . 2024-08-21 . ABC News . en-AU.
2. Web site: 2018-12-13 . Canberra Wildlife Drones start up company secures Uniseed grant . 2024-08-21 . ABC listen . en-AU.
3. Web site: Staff . A. G. . 2015-08-31 . Drone used to track wildlife a world first . 2024-08-21 . Australian Geographic . en-US.
4. Web site: Thistleton . John . 2015-08-24 . ANU's radio-tracking drone can locate radio-tagged wildlife . 2024-08-21 . The Canberra Times . en-AU.
5. Saunders . Debbie . Nguyen . Huyen . Cowen . Saul . Magrath . Michael . Marsh . Karen . Bell . Sarah . Bobruk . Josh . 2022-02-04 . Radio-tracking wildlife with drones: a viewshed analysis quantifying survey coverage across diverse landscapes . Wildlife Research . peer-reviewed . CSIRO . Wildlife Research . 49 . 1 . 1–10 . 10.1071/wr21033 . 1035-3712.
6. Book: PUBLISHING, CSIRO . Wildlife Research in Australia . 2022 . 9781486313440 . 96–106 . CSIRO . en.
7. Cliff . Oliver . Fitch . Robert . Sukkarieh . Salah . Saunders . Debbie . Heinsohn . Robert . 2015-07-13 . Online Localization of Radio-Tagged Wildlife with an Autonomous Aerial Robot System . Robotics: Science and Systems XI . Robotics: Science and Systems Foundation . 10.15607/rss.2015.xi.042. 978-0-9923747-1-6 .
8. Web site: The Tech23 – Tech23.2019 . 2024-08-28 . en-AU.
9. Web site: November 19, 2019 . Grant Award View - GA62719 .
10. Web site: Treasury . ACT Government; PositionTitle=Director; SectionName=Corporate Management; Corporate=Chief Minister and . 2024-06-20 . Businesswoman of the Year flies high . 2024-08-28 . Our Canberra . en.
11. Web site: 2023 Hall of Fame . 2024-08-28 . Women And Drones . en-US.
12. Web site: Wildlife Drones . 2024-08-21 . Airwards . en-GB.
13. Web site: Media . Newstime . 2023-10-27 . Dr Debbie Saunders named 2023 Businesswoman of the Year . 2024-08-21 . Canberra Daily . en-AU.
14. Web site: Wildlife Drones helping to protect endangered species . 2024-08-21 . Agrifood Innovation Institute . en.
15. Web site: Network . Canberra Innovation . 2020-01-29 . Wildlife Drones Tracks Critically Endangered Pangolins in Vietnam . 2024-08-21 . Canberra Innovation Network . en-AU.
16. Web site: Australia . Atlas Advisors . Atlas Advisors Australia – Opening Soon . 2024-08-21 . Atlas Advisors Australia . en.
17. Web site: Perkins . Miki . 2020-09-08 . Pioneering tracker drone keeps high eye on endangered animals . 2024-08-21 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
18. Web site: Brard . Emeric . 2020-05-23 . Revamping The BIIP Could Help Organisations Save The Environment . 2024-08-21 . Women Love Tech.
19. Web site: Editor 1 . 2022-05-27 . Wash. State Scientists Hoping to Wipe out Murder Hornets w/ 1,000 Traps . 2024-08-21 . Headline USA . en-US.
20. Web site: Square . Brett Davis The Center . 2022-05-26 . Washington state scientists to set 1,000 traps for 'murder hornets' . 2024-08-21 . The Center Square . en.