Protecting deer with drones in Switzerland

DW (English)

Young deer hide in tall grass to avoid predators—but farmers often don’t notice them. Tractors and harvesters kill thousands of fawns each year. Now, volunteers are using drones to protect these wild animals.

Transcript

00:00A standard drone wouldn't be able to detect anything hidden in the grass, but a more sophisticated

00:12one makes it possible to identify deer sheltering in fields.

00:16That's what these volunteers from Switzerland's Fawn Rescue Foundation are meeting at dawn

00:20to do.

00:21They're helping rescue fawns from heavy machinery during harvesting, which coincides with deer

00:26birthing season.

00:30A deer gives birth between the beginning of May and mid-July.

00:37They give birth in grassy fields adjacent to forests, so our role is to fly over the

00:54edge of the woods and farmland that's near forests.

01:01The team uses drones fitted with thermal imaging cameras to find the fawns.

01:06The problem is that the female deer hides her offspring in fields with high grass, then

01:11leaves them there while she goes foraging for food.

01:15They remain completely still until she returns, not even moving when huge agricultural machines

01:20approach and end up injured or killed.

01:25The volunteers work closely with farmers.

01:33We plan our interventions ahead, when we receive a request from the farmer.

01:39He gives us the land register number of his field so we know exactly where to go.

01:48Once the rescuers have located the animals hiding in the grass, they place a wooden crate

01:53on it to alert the farmer to its position.

01:58When we put the crate on the fawn, which is very young and still, it won't move.

02:05We then mark the position of the cage with a flag, so the farmer can maneuver around

02:12it when he harvests.

02:18When he's done, he removes the crate and the fawn stays put until its mother comes

02:24back for it.

02:31Thousands of fawns are killed in Switzerland by harvesting machines each year during mowing

02:36season, but this initiative is helping keep them alive.

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