Kitz rescue by drone: unique field trial on Lake Tegernsee

The farmers' association and the animal protection association Tegernseer Tal entered into a unique cooperation at the beginning of the hay season: the fawn rescue with the help of thermal imaging cameras.

Rottach-Egern / district- So that the mowing of the meadows does not become a death trap for newly born fawns, young rabbits, young birds, breeders and other animals, the animal welfare association is sponsoring animal rescue from the air this year. According to its chairman Johanna Eckert-Schotte, the association had intensive discussions with the farmers last year. It became clear that they searched the meadow once before each mowing to locate fawns whose mother was grazing. But the little fawns, whose instinct is to duck into the tall grass for protection, are very difficult to spot. In addition, farmers are usually under time pressure. Because the weather has to be right, and machines are often purchased together, so that it is decided at short notice which meadow is mowed and when.

“It is of course in our interest to save the animals. None of us want to injure or kill fawns or rabbits or even our own cat by mowing, ”emphasizes BBV district chairman Hans Hacklinger. And not just for emotional reasons, but also for economic reasons. Because every mowing in which an animal was injured or killed can of course no longer be used as animal feed and must be disposed of (for a fee). If wild animals are harmed, this must even be officially reported to the local hunter.

While farmers had regular mowing accidents 30 to 40 years ago, they are far less common today, Hacklinger reports. But so far, farmers have not been able to rule it out.

When the idea for the cooperation was formed last year, Ecker-Schotte invited the young Munich start-up company FairFleet, a full-service partner for drone services, to the joint talks. The young founders of the platform, which provides 3000 drone pilots for use in all kinds of commercial areas, listened closely to the farmers and developed solutions tailored to their needs. A drone pilot from the region comes to the fawn rescue from the air in the early morning hours of the mowing day. With a drone, which is equipped with a high-resolution thermal camera, he flies in meadows or fields at a height of about 50 meters in tight loops. The camera drone transmits images of the animals hidden in the grass to a monitor as yellow dots.

"If a fawn or other animal is identified, the drone will stop and the farmer can immediately go into the field or meadow and recover the animal," reports Alexander Engelfried from FairFleet Munich. "The farmers know exactly how to do it," adds Ecker-Schotte. To do this, you have to pull out the grass and carry the deer fawn out of the field on a grass bed without direct contact, which could transmit the human smell to the animal child, and lay down safely on the edge. There the deer mother will find the fawn and take it back into her care.

“We are very happy with this solution. It is a great way to protect the animals and also our hay harvest, ”said district chairman Hacklinger. The costs of the operations are sponsored in the first year of the cooperation - for all farmers in the district. Depending on the size of the meadow and the time window of the flight, they amount to around 75 to 100 euros - and only because FairFleed only calculates the use of the pilot, but not the rent of the 17,000 euros equipment.

With the joint concept, the high level of skepticism among the farmers, which would have been built up in the past few years through “unsuitable applications” (Engelfried) of some providers, was reduced. The Rottacher BBV local chairman Martin Strohschneider, for example, during whom one of the first flights took place these days, was enthusiastic. "If we have good experiences with it this year and make sure that animals are never harmed again when mowing," says Hacklinger, "I am sure that farmers will be happy to bear the costs themselves from next year on."

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