Remote-Controlled Planes Used For Wildlife Conservation 48
Damien1972 writes "Conservationists have converted a remote-controlled plane into a potent tool for conservation. The drone — an HK Bixler equipped with cameras, sensors and GPS — has been used to map deforestation, count orangutans and elephants, and get a bird's eye view of hard-to-access forest areas. During their 4 days of testing in Sumatra, the drone flew 30 missions without a single crash. A mission, which typically lasts about 25 minutes, can cover 50 hectares. The drone, full equipped, costs less than $2,000."
Re:Pigeons (Score:0, Interesting)
And deer, too--they are like large rodents in some areas (e.g., Ohio). "In 2005, 27,000 Ohio drivers saw, up close, what a deer in the headlights really looks like. Those car-deer collisions carried a cost of $71 million."
A Cornell University study said that nationally, deer do more than $2 billion in damage every year.
Interestingly, the Japanese sympathize with deer and can't understand why we hunt them--while we can't understand why they hunt whales.