This is how trained eagles knock drones out of the sky
Sep 17, 2016
Udi Tirosh
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
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Remember that funny story about eagles being trained to clean the airspace of illegal drones? Well, things just got serious. The program started with one eagle, so the chances of the bird catching a drone somewhere in the duch airspace were pretty random. but the program is gaining momentum and more eagles are begin trained.
If you thought that this is a futile effort, just watch the video below. The film is and it looks like it rolls the story of a high profile meeting being spied upon with a drone. If you just want the action, jump to 1:40.
At first I was concerned that the propellers will hurt the eagle’s leg, but it seems that they never touch. Instead a leather strap is dangling from the bird’s leg and killing the propellers.
There are other methods of intercepting illegal drones, like this net casting Japanese drone, but when the drone singularity apocalypse will come, those will turn against humanity as well. This is why drone hunting eagles may be humanity’s last chance again self aware drones.
[via laughingsquid]
p.s. I don’t really think that a drone singularity apocalypse is upon us. but wouldn’t it be awesome if it was. One can imagine, right?
Udi Tirosh
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
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10 responses to “This is how trained eagles knock drones out of the sky”
Strange dutch people! There is a way to knock eagles out of sky too. :-)
Fred Herbst
Awesome
The leather strap is just the usual strap that all falconers use to secure the bird. They say in the video that they conducted tests on how the rotor blades will affect the eagle’s legs and they found that this size of drone has no effect whatsoever. For larger drones they are developing protective gloves (!) for the eagle.
Even with a small drone like a Phantom, if you throw carbon props on there, they’re certainly capable of doing damage to an eagle.
In pinch, I’d trust the falconers to know about their stuff.
Yes, they generally do, my dad’s one. He’s been flying and hunting with birds of prey for over 50 years. So, I grew up surrounded by them, interacting with them on a daily basis.
Jemima Parry-Jones, who runs the International Centre for Birds of Prey, also isn’t a big fan of using eagles to take down drones. I’ve also photographed a bunch of her birds, too.
I know which expert opinions I trust. :)
Carbon fibre blades would likely tear a bird’s legs to shreds. Anklets and jesses (“the leather straps”) are going to offer very little protection.
Andrea Zavala Gibaja próximamente condors y gallinazos
The claim that the leather strap is stopping the propellers is just to pacify the animal rights activists. Anyone with an IQ higher than 85 is probably not buying it. Long term I see potential for stress fractures in the birds’ legs.
Shotguns loaded with beanbags would have been equally as effective at a fraction of the cost of training and maintaining the birds.
now start producing birds more, but this is dangerous to birds