Safety
Drones Find Niche in Wildlife Management
Developing rules, procedures, and regulations are essential to creating the conditions for safe drone operations at airports.

Wildlife hazard management is an important element of operations for all airports, as operators want to avoid or mitigate the risk of accidents occurring from wildlife strikes. Thanks to the particular advancement of drone technology in recent years, the practice of wildlife hazard management is being enriched by the development of remote-controlled predator replicas that can descend from the sky and scatter pest birds. Some airports have tried to use replica predator drones as an experimental technique. Gary Searing, executive director of Birdstrike Committee Canada, notes that remote-control predator-like aircraft have been around for decades. “Their effectiveness depends upon the species of birds being dispersed and the skill of the operator,” he said.