Use drones to deter crop damage by mammals to reduce human-wildlife conflict

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

72%
Certainty

35%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Wild herbivores can cause substantial damage to agricultural crops. Various methods may be used to deter animals from accessing crops or to scare away animals in the area. This intervention covers use of drones for scaring animals away from crop areas. If successful, the intervention could reduce incentives for carrying out lethal control of crop-raiding mammal species.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects on mammals of using drones to deter crop damage by mammals to reduce human-wildlife conflict. This study was in Tanzania.

KEY COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

OTHER (1 STUDY)

Human-wildlife conflict (1 study): A replicated study in Tanzania found that drones repelled African savanna elephants from crops within one minute.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated study in 2015–2016 in two savanna reserves in Tanzania (Hahn et al. 2017) found that using drones to deter crop damage led to African savanna elephants Loxodonta africana leaving sites within one minute on all occasions. On all 38 occasions when drones were deployed to intercept elephants, the animals began to flee within one minute. Elephants were typically herded to an area > 1 km from croplands. Before drone use, rangers were trained during three 4-day workshops. In February–March and May–August 2015, and in March–April 2016, rangers deployed drones in 38 situations when elephants were found close to croplands or villages. Each drone was fitted with a flashlight, to locate elephants at night and, during the day, a live video feed from a camera on the drone was used. Elephant responses were recorded over 60-second intervals, during the first 10 minutes of the drone flight.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Hahn N., Mwakatobe A., Konuche J., de Souza N., Keyyu J., Goss M., Chang'a A., Palminteri S., Dinerstein E. & Olson D. (2017) Unmanned aerial vehicles mitigate human–elephant conflict on the borders of Tanzanian Parks: a case study. Oryx, 51, 513-516.

Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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