No point ducking for cover
A drone searches the river for ducks. Photo: DOC
The Department of Conservation is going to new heights to check on the Whio (Blue Duck) population in the Tongariro area.
Rangers are using thermal drones to find threatened whio .
DOC has been doing surveys for deer over the past couple of years, using drones equipped with thermal and standard camera equipment.
Principal Ranger Dan Van Der Lubbe says Tongariro staff were impressed by the resolution of the drone cameras.
“Deer stand out of course, but we were seeing small mammals in these surveys we didn't expect to pick up, and it was a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment.”
Whio live on and near fast-flowing rivers. Typical monitoring is resource intensive, with rangers navigating rivers on foot or by raft.
Operators use thermal cameras
“We can only have rangers in so many places, so this thermal technology gives us an opportunity to learn about whio across more rivers.
In the trial run 10 pairs of whio were detected, and six single birds across 8km of the Whakapapa-iti River.
“We’ve never been able to survey there before, so this is a game changer.”
Operators use thermal cameras to locate the heat signature of birds on the river, then a standard camera to identify the species.
Dan says the technology means operators can zoom in on individual birds, almost distinguishing identifying features of each duck.
“And the best part is the whio just behave like normal. They don’t know the drone is even there, they just carry on feeding with no disturbance at all.”
Whio are found only in Aotearoa New Zealand, but their survival is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators, particularly stoats.
The Whakapapa-iti runs alongside the Tongariro whio security site, where the whio population is protected and monitored with support from Genesis.
Dan says it will help them understand more about how whio are faring outside of the intensive management areas and help focus conservation where it will be most effective.
