Watch: Eagles trained to take down drones

3 Feb 2016

Dutch police have found a novel way of dealing with annoying drones. It’s nothing too technological, either. They just use eagles.

Drones are a problem. From military use – both for surveillance and bombing – to commercial and recreational use, they pose quite a few risks to our current way of life.

The technology is so far ahead of laws around the world that officials are looking at any possible way to guard against an influx of devices flying high above our heads.

And it’s not just the human race that is getting annoyed by these noisy drones, with most of the animal kingdom similarly agitated by their very existence.

So, Dutch police have come up with a novel technique to down any unwanted flybys, recruiting eagles to do the dirty work.

Getting help from Guards from Above, a company that specialises in training birds of prey, the police force may have just cottoned on to a very effective defence system.

As you can see in this video, the eagle intercepts the drone in mid air and uses its talons to destroy any chance of technological escape, bringing the target down to the ground where it can annoy no one.

“For years, the government has been looking for ways to counter the undesirable use of drones,” said company CEO Sjoerd Hoogendoorn.

“Sometimes, a low-tech solution for a high-tech problem is more obvious than it seems. This is the case with our specialty trained birds of prey. By using these birds’ animal instincts, we can offer an effective solution to a new threat.”

Of course, if birds don’t work there are plenty of other options. Bears, dogs, cats, kangaroos, rams…

Main eagle image via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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