Dutch Police install Drone-Disabling Birds of Prey

For regulation enforcement officials around the sector, partnering with animals is a time-commemorated culture. established police do their responsibility on horseback — and, in some international locations, camelback. especially skilled dogs serve and protect through sniffing out tablets and explosives. however in the Netherlands, law enforcement officials are inaugurating a brand new species of animal accomplice — eagles — to take down illegal aerial drones.

In a statement launched Jan. 31, the Dutch countrywide Police Corps announced a new initiative the use of birds of prey to intercept unwanted drones. this system became developed and examined in partnership with guard from Above (GFA), a Dutch enterprise positioned within the Hague that specializes in education big, predatory birds to "hunt" and subdue robotic prey.

A video published through the national Police Corps of an indoor demonstration indicates a handler freeing an eagle, which swoops closer to a soaring quadcopter drone, snatching the device out of the air and flying off with it right into a nook of the education ring. [In Images: Amazing Harpy Eagle Chick]

in line with Mark Wiebe, innovation manager of the country wide Unit of the police, the eagle reacts to the drone as it'd to its regular prey — no longer handiest grabbing it whilst in flight, however taking it straight away to ground, as it'd any animal that it had simply nabbed and become equipped to eat.

"For years, the authorities has been searching out approaches to counter the undesirable use of drones," Sjoerd Hoogendoorn, GFA co-founder, said in a announcement. "occasionally a low-tech answer for a excessive-tech hassle is greater obvious than it seems. that is the case with our especially skilled birds of prey. by the usage of those birds' animal instincts, we will offer an effective method to a brand new threat."

The hen taking down the drone in the video seems to be a golden eagle, a powerful hen that typically preys on small mammals, however is capable of combating off bears or coyotes when protecting its prey or young, consistent with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In 2012, a viral video convinced many who a golden eagle had carried off a small baby, although the video was later validated to be a hoax.

Dutch police are currently investigating one of a kind approaches to include rogue drones, which can intrude with helicopter flights, motive harm to bystanders, or even be used for criminal functions, Wiebe stated inside the announcement. protection nets, which were examined by way of Tokyo police in December 2015, are also being taken into consideration. The police will make their very last selection approximately making the eagles a everlasting a part of the squad after the check period concludes — "in some months," in step with the announcement.