(Press-News.org) Key Findings
Drones can be a valuable, non-invasive tool for observing elephant families and aiding long-term conservation efforts.
Elephants can habituate to drones - showing fewer signs of disturbance both during a single flight and after repeated exposures. Disturbance behaviours were 70% less likely on successive drone flights.
Careful flight protocols matter - when flown high (120 m or above), with a downwind approach, and steadily, drones cause minimal stress.
Just under half of all trials showed no signs of disturbance, and those that did quickly returned to levels comparable with pre-exposure.
The findings have been published today (27 November) in Nature: Scientific Reports.
Nairobi, Kenya - Thursday, November 27 - They say an elephant never forgets - and it turns out they can learn to adapt to drones!
Once seen as a source of alarm, drones are now proving to be surprisingly elephant-friendly and a valuable research tool. Previously, the use of drones in elephant conservation has mostly relied on their power to disturb: elephants reliably run from them, making them a useful tool to drive elephants from croplands.
Now, new work published today by Save the Elephants (STE) and the University of Oxford has shown that elephants can learn to ignore drones, a finding that could transform how scientists and conservationists monitor wildlife.
Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have become increasingly important for wildlife research. With their buzzing propellers, which can sound like a swarm of bees, drones have been used to chase elephants from farms. But when flown in a way designed to minimise disturbance, elephants soon learn to ignore them.
And that’s good news for science. Ever since Iain Douglas-Hamilton pioneered the scientific study of wild elephant behaviour in the 1960s, observations on their interactions have been observed from alongside them, in vehicles, or in some cases on platforms. Now drones offer a completely new perspective on what is happening within a herd.
This new perspective offers the tantalising opportunity to precisely quantify for the first time how individuals in a group of elephants inter-relate in different situations. The on-board cameras and integrated sensors gather large amounts of data - data that AI-enabled software can search for patterns that have eluded human researchers until now.
The new study, published in Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25762-2) today, confirms that flying a drone high and steady changes the behaviour of elephants only temporarily, if the elephants react at all. Already the team has been given intriguing hints about the sleep habits of elephants under the cover of darkness, and are on the brink of releasing a tool that can automatically derive the age and sex of each individual in the group being observed.
The study, supported by the Colossal Foundation, combines STE’s 30+ years of long-term field expertise with cutting-edge technology to help deepen our understanding of complex species like elephants.
Save the Elephants’ CEO, Frank Pope, says: “Biodiversity is in crisis but we’re not standing still. New technologies are expanding our ability to perceive, analyse and understand the wild world in a way that was previously unthinkable. This study promises to open a new window onto how elephants work.”
The researchers conducted 35 quadcopter drone trials on 14 individually known elephant families in northern Kenya’s Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. About half showed signs of disturbance when first exposed - predominantly mild, such as lifting their trunks or pausing their activities - but these reactions diminished rapidly, within just six minutes, and were 70 percent less likely to recur in repeated flights.
Lead author, Angus Carey-Douglas from Save the Elephants says, “The way in which the drone is flown is crucial. We found that not all elephants were disturbed, and those that were became less agitated both during a single flight and over repeated exposures. Additionally, our results suggest that these habituation effects may last over many months if not years, demonstrating the capacity for learning and adaptability for which elephants are already well known.”
This habituation means drones have potential as a non-invasive, cost-effective observation platform, helping scientists gather data about elephant movement, social interactions, and responses to environmental changes with minimal interference. Enhanced monitoring with drones is already revealing new behaviours, giving conservationists deeper insights into elephant lives and helping to shape more effective protection efforts.
Save the Elephants’ chairman and co-author, Professor Fritz Vollrath from Oxford University’s Department of Biology, notes: “This research demonstrates the power of a new and rapidly evolving technology that allows us to probe ever deeper into the secret lives of elephants. For example, the onboard thermal camera penetrates the darkness, opening up detailed studies of night-time behaviour and sleeping patterns.”
Matt James, Executive Director, Colossal Foundation says: "We are proud to partner with and support Save the Elephants in deploying cutting-edge technologies to protect elephants in the wild. This collaboration is a powerful example of how Colossal’s de-extinction innovations are already safeguarding living species today, demonstrating that the tools we’re developing to bring back the past are equally vital for protecting biodiversity today."
The researchers emphasise that while drones can be powerful tools for conservation (for instance in the study of marine mammals), their use around wildlife should always be strictly controlled. In Kenya, tourist and recreational drone flights are prohibited in national parks and reserves to protect animals from unnecessary stress. The drones in this study were operated under special permits issued by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute.
Read the full study (on 27 November)- Nature Scientific Reports: Elephant habituation to drones as a behavioural observation tool - here https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25762-2
For more images and video footage please click here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18z2QmFTtoIfveio2p5z-MAd6krumY_xO?usp=share_link These images are for editorial puposes relating to the press release ONLY and MUST be credited (see captions file in folder). They MUST NOT be sold on to third parties.
Media Contact:
Jane Wynyard
Save the Elephants
jane@savetheelephants.org
www.savetheelephants.org
About Save the Elephants
Save the Elephants works to secure a future for elephants. Specialising in elephant research, it provides scientific insights into elephant behaviour, intelligence, and long-distance movements and applies them to the challenges of elephant survival and harmonious coexistence with humanity. High-tech tracking helps plan landscapes while low-tech beehive fences, among other tools, provide people /communities living with elephants with protection as well as income. Education and outreach programmes share these insights with local communities as the true custodians of this rich heritage. Save the Elephants (www.savetheelephants.org) runs the Elephant Crisis Fund (www.elephantcrisisfund.org) in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Network, providing flexible and responsive support to NGOs combatting the ivory trade, promoting human-elephant coexistence, and protecting elephant landscapes.
In September 2025, Save the Elephants was named the winner of the 20th BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award for Biodiversity Conservation, receiving international recognition for its groundbreaking and sustained contribution to protecting elephants across the African continent through its Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF).
About the University of Oxford
Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the tenth year running, and number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.
Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.
Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing around £16.9 billion to the UK economy in 2021/22, and supports more than 90,400 full time jobs.
About the Colossal Foundation
The Colossal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to supporting the use of cutting-edge technologies for conservation efforts globally to help prevent extinction of keystone species. The organization deploys de-extinction technologies and support to empower partners in the field to reverse the extinction crisis. Learn more at www.ColossalFoundation.org
END
Drones: An ally in the sky to help save elephants!
2025-11-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
RNA in action: Filming ribozyme self-assembly
2025-11-27
Press Release
Under embargo until 27 November, 11:00 AM, CET
RNA in action: filming ribozyme self-assembly
Researchers have visualised, in unprecedented detail, how a large RNA molecule assembles itself into a functional machine
RNA is a central biological macromolecule, now widely harnessed in medicine and nanotechnology. Like proteins, RNA function often depends on its precise three-dimensional structure. A recent study published in Nature Communications by Marcia group, has captured, for the first time, a ribozyme in ...
Non-invasive technology can shape the brain’s reward-seeking mechanisms
2025-11-27
The nucleus accumbens is a tiny element of the human brain triggered when we experience something enjoyable, and used to help us learn behaviours that lead to rewards.
A new study has shown for the first time that its influence on human behaviour can be altered using transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS).
Applying the technique for just over a minute at a time, researchers were able to influence how people learned the links between certain cues and rewards.
The result was that they were more likely to repeat a choice that had previously paid off, their learning rates following positive outcomes increased and they were more likely to make ...
X-ray imaging captures the brain’s intricate connections
2025-11-27
An international team of researchers led by the Francis Crick Institute, working with the Paul Scherrer Institute, have developed a new imaging protocol to capture mouse brain cell connections in precise detail.
In work published today in Nature Methods, they combined the use of X-rays with radiation-resistant materials sourced from the aerospace industry.
The images acquired using this technique allowed the team to see how nerve cells connect in the mouse brain, without needing to thinly slice biological tissue samples.
Volume electron microscopy (volume EM) has been the gold standard for imaging how nerve cells connect as ‘circuitry’ ...
Plastic pollution is worsened by warming climate and must be stemmed, researchers warn
2025-11-27
A new review published in Frontiers in Science is calling for urgent action to avoid irreversible ecological damage by stemming the tide of microplastics entering the environment.
Climate change conditions turn plastics into more mobile, persistent, and hazardous pollutants. This is done by speeding up plastic breakdown into microplastics - microscopic fragments of plastic - spreading them considerable distances, and increasing exposure and impact within the environment.
This is set to worsen as both plastic manufacturing and climate effects increase. Global annual plastic ...
Europe’s hidden HIV crisis: Half of all people living with HIV in Europe are diagnosed late, threatening to undermine the fight against AIDS
2025-11-27
Europe is failing to test and treat HIV early, with over half (54%) of all diagnoses in 2024 being made too late for optimal treatment. New data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe warns that this critical testing failure, combined with a growing number of undiagnosed cases, is severely jeopardising the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
According to the annual HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 105 922 HIV diagnoses were made in the ...
More efficient aircraft engines: Graz University of Technology reveals optimization potential
2025-11-27
With its “Flightpath 2050” strategy, the European Commission has outlined a framework for the aviation industry that aims to reduce emissions as well as fuel and energy consumption. Among other things, this requires more efficient engines. In the ARIADNE project, an interdisciplinary team at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has created the basis for achieving the desired efficiency gains more quickly. To this end, the researchers have combined years of flow data on intermediate turbine ...
Nobel Prize-awarded material that puncture and kill bacteria
2025-11-27
Bacteria that multiply on surfaces are a major headache in healthcare when they gain a foothold on, for example, implants or in catheters. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have found a new weapon to fight these hotbeds of bacterial growth – one that does not rely on antibiotics or toxic metals. The key lies in a completely new application of this year's Nobel Prize-winning material: metal-organic frameworks. These materials can physically impale, puncture and kill bacteria before they have time to attach ...
Michigan cherry farmers find a surprising food safety ally: falcons
2025-11-27
The cherry harvest wrapped up months ago. But in northern Michigan, some growers are already anticipating the spring resurgence of a tiny raptor that could benefit next season’s crop.
The American kestrel is the smallest falcon in the U.S. As birds of prey, kestrels deter smaller birds that like to snack on farmers’ fruit. But new research suggests that these winged security guards may have an additional benefit: food safety.
That’s according to a study from Michigan State University, ...
Individuals with diabetes are more likely to suffer complications after stent surgery
2025-11-27
Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of complications after stent implantation, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in Diabetes Care. The study, which includes over 160,000 patients, emphasises the importance of tailoring treatment strategies for this specific patient group.
Researchers have conducted a comprehensive study to investigate the risk of stent complications in patients with diabetes. The study consists of data from over 160,000 patients who received drug-eluting stents (small tubes placed in the coronary arteries of the heart that slowly release drugs to reduce the risk of the vessel becoming blocked again) between ...
Polyphenol-rich diets linked to better long-term heart health
2025-11-27
People who regularly consume polyphenol-rich foods and drinks, such as tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains and olive oil, may have better long-term heart health.
The research, led by King’s College London, found that those with higher adherence to polyphenol-rich dietary patterns had lower predicted cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
Polyphenols are natural compounds found in plants that are linked to various health benefits, including improved heart, brain, and gut health.
The study, ...