Urgent! Save this elephant. "Recently, an Asian elephant weighing 2.5 tons fell into an abandoned pool in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, struggling desperately but unable to save itself.

In the critical moment, the rescue team quickly called in an excavator to break a gap, and used drones to observe the condition of the Asian elephant from high altitude and guide the excavator's operation. After the rescue, the drone continued to track and observe from a long distance to confirm the physical condition of the Asian elephant until it reunited with the elephant herd and returned to the reserve.

In the emergency rescue of Asian elephants, the high-definition images taken by drones provided important support for the rescue. In the daily management of Asian elephants, relevant units in Xishuangbanna introduced dozens of drone equipment, including DJI Airport 2 and DJI M350 RTK equipped with Zenmuse H30T, using laser dot positioning, infrared and other functions to monitor Asian elephants in a scientific way and protect the elephant herd.

  Drone laser spotting to confirm elephant herd location

More than 300 Asian elephants are scattered

Tracking is difficult and risky

Asian elephants are the largest terrestrial mammals in Asia and are also first-class protected animals in China. Currently, there are only more than 300 Asian elephants left, distributed in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Pu'er City and Lincang City in the southern border area of ​​Yunnan. In recent years, the Asian elephant population has continued to spread outward, and they frequently enter fields and villages to forage, causing economic losses and threats to the personal safety of villagers.
It is difficult and risky for monitoring personnel to track Asian elephants in the wild. In order to ensure the safety of humans and elephants, the management department uses DJI industry drones to monitor the movements of elephants around the clock and issue early warnings to avoid conflicts between humans and elephants.

Drones detected elephants wandering outside villagers’ homes.

Staff promptly reminded villagers to evacuate.

Accurate observation even at a distance

Zenmuse H30T protects Asian elephants around the clock

As a "giant" on land, Asian elephants are somewhat aggressive and need to be monitored and tracked in a safe and non-interference environment. The Zenmuse H30T zoom camera has a pixel of up to 40 million and a maximum zoom ratio of 400 times. Even at an altitude of 120 meters and 800 meters away from Asian elephants, it can clearly record the activities of Asian elephants.

Zenmuse H30T captures elephants crossing a river

In the tropical rainforest reserve where Asian elephants live, the trees are dense, making it difficult for elephants' ground activities to be captured by high-altitude visible light images. Using the Zenmuse H30T infrared ultra-clear mode, you can quickly spot Asian elephants through the gaps in the tree canopy.

Visible light makes it difficult to spot Asian elephants hiding under trees

infrared cameras can quickly identify them

At night, Asian elephants are active frequently, which is the main time for monitoring. In the complex environment of the forest, the operator turns on the full-color night vision mode of the Zenmuse H30T to see the terrain around the drone and ensure flight safety. In addition, through high-resolution infrared thermal imaging, the every move of the Asian elephants can be clearly observed, achieving all-weather protection.

Zenmuse H30T infrared camera spotted Asian elephants at night

Drones monitor elephant activities 24/7 and perform location tracking to obtain the precise distance between drones and elephants and the exact location of the elephants in real time, thus ensuring a safe boundary between drones and elephants.

Using the laser dot function of drones to locate elephant herds

Once elephants are found moving near residential areas, staff will immediately release relevant information through the early warning platform and remind residents to pay attention to safety and evacuate villagers in time to ensure their lives.

The Asian Elephant Warning App marks the location of people and elephants
Villagers can obtain warning information in a timely manner

Last July, a drone infrared camera captured a herd of elephants walking to a restaurant, less than 100 meters from the road. The staff immediately used the drone to shout warnings, reminding nearby farmers to stop working and that the road was closed. For five consecutive days, the staff kept a close eye on the elephants' movements throughout the day. The drone flew more than 60 times, covering more than 300 kilometers, and found a total of 43 elephants, ensuring the safety of people and elephants.

Autonomous patrol, regular data updates

DJI Airport 2 assists elephant research

During daily patrols, staff use drones to carry out mobile operations. In areas where Asian elephants are active, the management center has deployed two DJI Airport 2s, which eliminates the need for personnel to go deep into the site, reducing the difficulty and risk of field monitoring personnel tracking Asian elephants. Staff planned a nearly 6-kilometer autonomous patrol mission for DJI Airport 2, and the drone took off autonomously to send back high-definition live broadcast images.

Plan patrol routes in the DJI SKY2 backend

Asian elephants do not have fixed homes and their activities are random. When an emergency occurs, the staff can remotely take over through the DJI Skylon 2, control the drone to quickly fly to the destination for inspection, and help the team understand the situation on the scene in a timely manner.

Operators remotely operate drones to film the activities of Asian elephants

At the same time, the staff used DJI Airport 2 to regularly photograph and locate elephant herds, scientifically counted the frequency of appearance of Asian elephants, and refined their main activity areas, providing an important basis for understanding the number and status of Asian elephant populations, and further investigating, studying and protecting Asian elephants.

The locations where Asian elephants frequently appear have been marked

UAVs have become an indispensable part of the protection of Asian elephants. Based on the UAV system, Yunnan Province has established a monitoring system that combines drones, ground cameras and ground personnel, and built a monitoring platform, an early warning platform and a command platform, realizing 24-hour online monitoring of Asian elephants, real-time push and full coverage of early warning information, protecting the safety of elephants and surrounding people, and promoting harmonious coexistence between man and nature.