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Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology

Lucia Pedrazzi, Hemal Naik Orcid Logo, Chris Sandbrook Orcid Logo, Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo, Ines Fuertbauer Orcid Logo, Andrew King Orcid Logo

Animal Behaviour, Volume: 222, Start page: 123147

Swansea University Authors: Lucia Pedrazzi, Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo, Ines Fuertbauer Orcid Logo, Andrew King Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123147

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones have revolutionized wildlife monitoring, and they are increasingly being used to study animal behaviour. In this review, examples of how data captured by drones (primarily images and video) enable the study of animal behaviour in less accessible environments, as we...

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Published in: Animal Behaviour
ISSN: 0003-3472
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69121
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Moreover, drones allow researchers not only to observe but also to manipulate and alter animal behaviour, creating a biohybrid system (i.e. a system involving an interaction between biological and engineered components, as discussed in this special issue), enabling the systematic study of specific behaviours, such as responses to simulated predation risk, or managing animal groups in agricultural settings and human&#x2013;wildlife conflict scenarios. However, effective drone usage is a difficult task, requiring consideration of many aspects. We highlight the importance of user proficiency in drone piloting and the challenges of processing and analysing the vast amount of data they create. In addition, we provide some insights into the importance of carefully considering the study species and context for animal behaviour research. Various methods of dealing with landscape and interindividual heterogeneity in studies across different species are also suggested. 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spelling 2025-03-19T10:55:42.1901621 v2 69121 2025-03-19 Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology af7938a8dd1620e54ac18e1f164014ec Lucia Pedrazzi Lucia Pedrazzi true false 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443 0000-0001-9891-895X Miguel Lurgi Rivera Miguel Lurgi Rivera true false f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa 0000-0003-1404-6280 Ines Fuertbauer Ines Fuertbauer true false cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642 0000-0002-6870-9767 Andrew King Andrew King true false 2025-03-19 BGPS Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones have revolutionized wildlife monitoring, and they are increasingly being used to study animal behaviour. In this review, examples of how data captured by drones (primarily images and video) enable the study of animal behaviour in less accessible environments, as well as rare or elusive behaviours, are provided. We believe that the potential application of drone imagery to advance wildlife monitoring creates unique opportunities for animal behaviour research and conservation. Rapid advances in image-tracking technologies and the use of artificial intelligence to identify the position, behaviour and local environment of many individuals simultaneously allow for the automated collection and processing of large data sets. Moreover, drones allow researchers not only to observe but also to manipulate and alter animal behaviour, creating a biohybrid system (i.e. a system involving an interaction between biological and engineered components, as discussed in this special issue), enabling the systematic study of specific behaviours, such as responses to simulated predation risk, or managing animal groups in agricultural settings and human–wildlife conflict scenarios. However, effective drone usage is a difficult task, requiring consideration of many aspects. We highlight the importance of user proficiency in drone piloting and the challenges of processing and analysing the vast amount of data they create. In addition, we provide some insights into the importance of carefully considering the study species and context for animal behaviour research. Various methods of dealing with landscape and interindividual heterogeneity in studies across different species are also suggested. Finally, some ethical considerations and potential unintended consequences of drone usage are discussed. Journal Article Animal Behaviour 222 123147 Elsevier BV 0003-3472 artificial intelligence; automated data collection; biohybrid system; image-tracking technologies; unmanned aerial vehicle; wildlife monitoring 1 4 2025 2025-04-01 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123147 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) L. Pedrazzi was funded by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council studentship (project reference: 2888750) and A. J. King was supported in part by funds from Office of Naval Research Global Grant Grant (number: N629092112030). 2025-03-19T10:55:42.1901621 2025-03-19T10:50:10.9693187 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Lucia Pedrazzi 1 Hemal Naik 0000-0002-7627-1726 2 Chris Sandbrook 0000-0002-9938-4934 3 Miguel Lurgi Rivera 0000-0001-9891-895X 4 Ines Fuertbauer 0000-0003-1404-6280 5 Andrew King 0000-0002-6870-9767 6 69121__33842__3df1bb46f4934143a2ca967ae59a161f.pdf 69121.VoR.pdf 2025-03-19T10:53:03.4322929 Output 1815722 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
spellingShingle Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
Lucia Pedrazzi
Miguel Lurgi Rivera
Ines Fuertbauer
Andrew King
title_short Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
title_full Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
title_fullStr Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
title_full_unstemmed Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
title_sort Advancing animal behaviour research using drone technology
author_id_str_mv af7938a8dd1620e54ac18e1f164014ec
947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443
f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa
cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642
author_id_fullname_str_mv af7938a8dd1620e54ac18e1f164014ec_***_Lucia Pedrazzi
947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443_***_Miguel Lurgi Rivera
f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa_***_Ines Fuertbauer
cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642_***_Andrew King
author Lucia Pedrazzi
Miguel Lurgi Rivera
Ines Fuertbauer
Andrew King
author2 Lucia Pedrazzi
Hemal Naik
Chris Sandbrook
Miguel Lurgi Rivera
Ines Fuertbauer
Andrew King
format Journal article
container_title Animal Behaviour
container_volume 222
container_start_page 123147
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0003-3472
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123147
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones have revolutionized wildlife monitoring, and they are increasingly being used to study animal behaviour. In this review, examples of how data captured by drones (primarily images and video) enable the study of animal behaviour in less accessible environments, as well as rare or elusive behaviours, are provided. We believe that the potential application of drone imagery to advance wildlife monitoring creates unique opportunities for animal behaviour research and conservation. Rapid advances in image-tracking technologies and the use of artificial intelligence to identify the position, behaviour and local environment of many individuals simultaneously allow for the automated collection and processing of large data sets. Moreover, drones allow researchers not only to observe but also to manipulate and alter animal behaviour, creating a biohybrid system (i.e. a system involving an interaction between biological and engineered components, as discussed in this special issue), enabling the systematic study of specific behaviours, such as responses to simulated predation risk, or managing animal groups in agricultural settings and human–wildlife conflict scenarios. However, effective drone usage is a difficult task, requiring consideration of many aspects. We highlight the importance of user proficiency in drone piloting and the challenges of processing and analysing the vast amount of data they create. In addition, we provide some insights into the importance of carefully considering the study species and context for animal behaviour research. Various methods of dealing with landscape and interindividual heterogeneity in studies across different species are also suggested. Finally, some ethical considerations and potential unintended consequences of drone usage are discussed.
published_date 2025-04-01T08:19:29Z
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