Wildlife drones explained

Wildlife Drones is an Australian drone radio-telemetry provider, offering radio-tracking and thermal imaging services with headquarters in Canberra, Australia. Wildlife Drones works to improve wildlife conservation worldwide by enabling researchers, wildlife biologists, government departments and environmental consultants to collect data more efficiently and effectively than using traditional hand-held radio-telemetry equipment. Wildlife Drones' innovative technology provides monitoring and management solutions for wide range of wildlife, including both endangered species and invasive species, as well as helping to protect animals threatened by human-wildlife conflicts, the illegal wildlife trade and poaching.

History

Founded in 2016 by Conservation Ecologist Debbie Saunders, following on from her PhD and post-doctoral research on the Swift Parrot at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. She studied winter habitat use and movements of the Swift Parrot, which inspired to the development of the world's first radio-receiver payload suitable for use on drones, and the associated real-time signal processing, analytics and mapping software.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Product

The aerial radio-receiver system has two main components:

  1. Payload, which includes a radio-receiver and a VHF directional antenna that are designed to be mounted onto an off-the-shelf drone (such as DJI matrice 210 or Freefly Systems Astro). The receiver has embedded signal processing software which collects and processes signal data then sends it to the base station in real time.  
  2. Base station, which receives and further processes signal data from the payload, and maps all tracking data in real time, without the need for internet connectivity.

When flown, the directional antenna and radio receiver on the drone detect signals from all radio-tagged animals within range. This data is then relayed via the transceiver, to the base station laptop where users can view the animals’ locations live on a map within the Wildlife Drones user interface.

This technology is also complementary to other drone sensors such as thermal imaging cameras used to locate cryptic animals such as koalas so individuals can be tagged and then also radio-tracked using drones to better understand their movements, such as before or after bushfires.

The system enables researchers to:

- Radio-track up to 40 animals simultaneously

- Get real-time location data, even when offline

- Locate tagged animals without needing to get close to them

- Access challenging mountainous and swampy terrain

- Detect all types of VHF radio-tags with unique frequencies

Publications

Further Publications by Dr Debbie Saunders and contributions:

Awards

Finalist

Projects

Partners

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 . 49 . 1 . 1–10 . 10.1071/wr21033 . 1035-3712.
  6. Book: PUBLISHING, CSIRO . Wildlife Research in Australia . 9781486313440 . 96–106 . 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.
  8. Web site: Wildlife Drones . 2024-08-21 . Airwards . en-GB.
  9. Web site: Media . Newstime . 2023-10-27 . Dr Debbie Saunders named 2023 Businesswoman of the Year . 2024-08-21 . Canberra Daily . en-AU.
  10. Web site: Wildlife Drones helping to protect endangered species . 2024-08-21 . Agrifood Innovation Institute . en.
  11. Web site: Network . Canberra Innovation . 2020-01-29 . Wildlife Drones Tracks Critically Endangered Pangolins in Vietnam . 2024-08-21 . Canberra Innovation Network . en-AU.
  12. Web site: Australia . Atlas Advisors . Atlas Advisors Australia – Opening Soon . 2024-08-21 . Atlas Advisors Australia . en.
  13. Web site: Perkins . Miki . 2020-09-08 . Pioneering tracker drone keeps high eye on endangered animals . 2024-08-21 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  14. Web site: Brard . Emeric . 2020-05-23 . Revamping The BIIP Could Help Organisations Save The Environment . 2024-08-21 . Women Love Tech.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.

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