Concerns over drones monitoring native endangered species of Australian gliders in Victoria appear to have been overblown after researchers found creatures could care less about the night-flying robotic invaders.
Gliders, also known as flying possums, are marsupial mammals of Australasia that volplane between trees, much like flying squirrels in the northern hemisphere.
The drones were brought in to resurvey and monitor the glider populations last year under a court order by Victoria’s supreme court after concerns were raised about VicForests decision to fell trees in areas also populated by endangered glider species—the yellow-bellied glider and the greater glider.
Since then, VicForest has been trialling drones to monitor state forests in East Gippsland and the Central Highlands in Victoria for fauna….