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3 minutes

Wildlife Managers to benefit from drone technology

Health and safety risks for Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) Wildlife Managers are set to be significantly reduced as heavy-lift drones prove their worth in deer management.

Watch footage of drone lifting deer carcass to pick-up here

Deer are often culled in difficult and remote terrain but carcasses intended for the human food chain have to reach a larder for processing as quickly as possible and in compliance with food standards legislation and best practise. 

This can involve the ranger having to physically manhandle a carcass - over several miles and for several hours - to transfer it to a ground vehicle to then take it on to a larder. That physical exertion over rough terrain and in all weathers presents potential health and safety hazards.

Using heavy lift drones to move the carcass eliminates that risk.

Grant Carson, FLS’ Wildlife Ranger Manager, said;

“With our partners, DroneWild, we have successfully demonstrated that this technique saves us time but also significantly reduces the health and safety challenges that foresters and wildlife rangers have to plan for and manage.

“These heavy lift drones obviously have a number of forestry applications, such as taking fencing materials to or away from remote and difficult to access locations, but extracting deer carcasses is a major step forward in promoting the safety of our colleagues in the field.

“The time saved also frees them up to apply their considerable skills to other wildlife priorities in an area.”

The Scottish Government’s CivTech programme (Round 9, 2023), set the challenges of improving the effectiveness of wildlife management and the health and safety of Wildlife Rangers.

Flown in trials by CivTech partner, DroneWild, which is licensed and insured to fly them, the heavy-lift drones are capable of lifting up to 100kg, and can be flown (under licence) beyond line of sight up to two thousand meters from the pilot’s position with a spotter half-way.

Although the drones are fitted with cameras, the spotter gives radio guidance to the pilot and ensures that the load is securely attached before giving the pilot the all clear to lift.

DroneWild Director and drone pilot, Ben Harrower, said;

"We have been closely involved with FLS’ exploration of drone technology from the beginning, such as trialling drone mounted thermal imaging cameras to locate deer in the landscape.

“The heavy lift drones are the latest application of this technology to field work and the  results clearly illustrate that they can reduce costs and carbon, save time and significant effort, and reduce risk while opening up parts of the estate that are otherwise hard to reach. 

“We look forward to building on this and developing the work further over the coming months."

The drone trials coincided with FLS’ exploration of the befits to wildlife of leaving deer waste, additional to gralloch, in the environment.

The Specific Operational Risk Assessment (SORA) and field trials were approved by regulators the Civil Aviation Authority. 

Full details of the original CivTech Challenge that led to this work can be found here. 

Notes to editors

  1. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.
  2. Media enquiries to media@forestryandland.gov.scot