A surprising new study indicates that black bears are being frightened by the mysterious flash lights of small unmanned aircraft that have grown in popularity in recent years.
A new study out of the University of Minnesota finds that black bears panic at the site of drones, a popular new item for hobbyists that has grown in popularity each year.
The study attempted to test the affects of unmanned aerial vehicles on the behavior and physiology of American black bears, with the aim of trying to determine the potential natural impacts of UAVs for wildlife, according to a Wired report.
The researchers attached satellite GPS collars and heart rate monitors on some bears so that they could gather data from them every few minutes. Then, they used quadcopters and flew them over the bears, sometimes circling them or just hovering overhead about 20 meters away for about five minutes. They then gathered the data.
Four possible responses were deemed likely: they remained calm, they would run away, they would have an increased heart rate, or they would both have an increased heart rate and run away.
A total of 18 flights were conducted over four bears, and the results were striking: every single flight resulted in an increased heart rate, with the highest rate coming from a pair of female bears with cubs, and then a hibernating adult female, and then a young male.
But they didn’t run away, the study found. However, they did notice that the bears tended to increase the rate of speed that they moved.
This is one of the first studies on the effects of drones on wildlife. A previous study had looked at how birds react to UAVs. It also indicates that while we may not see a reaction from bears by flying a UAV from them, it’s still causing a lot of stress to them.
