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Flying helper for fawn rescue

2021-04-22T15:01:49.693Z


The Peißenberg farmers now have a flying helper for the rescue of fawns. The local hunting association bought a drone with a thermal imaging camera that can be used to search areas before mowing.


The Peißenberg farmers now have a flying helper for the rescue of fawns.

The local hunting association bought a drone with a thermal imaging camera that can be used to search areas before mowing.

Peißenberg - The problem has been known for a long time: When there is danger, fawns crouch deep in the grass and remain motionless in order to remain unnoticed by predators.

Unfortunately, they also hide from the farmers who come with heavy equipment to harvest the fields.

After saving the fawns for a long time depended on animal rights activists taking on the problem, since last year the farmer has been obliged to search his fields for hidden animals before mowing.

That takes time - and the help of a number of colleagues.

It is different when the latest technology is used: a drone with a thermal imaging camera.

Training to become a drone pilot on two weekends

"Kathrin Städele from the Polling fawn rescue has drawn our attention to the fact that such drones have been used successfully in Nantesbuch," says Hans Schuster, farmer and director of the Peißenberg hunting association. He then paid a visit to the “Art and Nature” foundation at Gut Nantesbuch, which among other things is committed to preserving rare animal and plant species, and was convinced of the benefits of the drone. Thanks to his vote, the hunting association decided to purchase such a device.

But the purchase was not enough: after all, the skills needed to use the new technology had to be acquired.

On two weekends, Schuster, his son Christian as well as Michael Loeber and Michael Jungwirth trained as drone pilots.

In private, only Jungwirth had previously had experience with this technology.

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The drone with thermal imaging camera draws attention to fawns in areas that are to be mowed.

© Closer

The four farmers present their latest acquisition on a meadow on the edge of the forest between Peißenberg and Polling.

Loeber has the control device in his hands, Schuster places the drone precisely at the start.

At the push of a button, it rises silently into the air.

“Shortly after sunrise, when the meadows are still cold, is the best time to look,” explains Loeber.

Two men will be on duty at a time.

You can follow the flight of the drone on the screen of the control computer.

A warm body becomes visible as a stain on it.

The drone then stops and remains in the air.

With it as a point of orientation, the suspicious point can then be sought.

If the men do find a fawn, they put it in a basket with tufts of grass.

They are not allowed to touch the young animal because the strange smell would cause the mother animal to reject the fawn.

The basket is then placed on the edge of the field until the mowing is over and the fawns are released into the wild.

Use in around 40 areas in demand

The drone will be used for the first time this spring.

The process is planned as follows: The farmers in the municipality of Peißenberg who want to mow in meadows and on the edges of forests, where deer prefer to lay their fawns, contact the hunting association in advance to request the use of the drone.

"About forty areas are likely to be affected," speculates Hans Schuster.

Two of the four pilots are then deployed.

The affected period extends from May 1st to June 20th.

Hans Schuster is unable to estimate how many fawns the helpers will find, i.e. how many previously remained undiscovered and were injured or even died.

He and his three colleagues are looking forward to their efforts to save the animals with excitement.

The hunting association

Asks all farmers with the properties in question to register during the period mentioned one day before the mowing on tel. 0160/93458293.

The time of mowing should also be given.

CLOSER FROM SABINE

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-04-22

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