NAIROBI, Nov 28 (Swara) – Elephants in Kenya have demonstrated an ability to adapt to and ignore surveillance drones, a discovery researchers say could revolutionise wildlife monitoring and unlock new secrets about herd behaviour.
A study published Thursday in Scientific Reports by conservation group Save the Elephants (STE) and the University of Oxford found that while drones were once viewed primarily as a tool to scare elephants away from crops, the animals can quickly habituate to the devices if flown correctly.
The findings mark a significant shift in conservation technology. Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), produce a buzzing sound often compared to swarms of bees—a noise elephants naturally fear. Consequently, drones have been widely used as a deterrent to drive herds away from farms and human settlements.
However, the new research indicates that when drones are flown high and steady, rather than aggressively, elephants learn to disregard them within minutes.
“We found that not all elephants were disturbed, and those that were became less agitated both during a single flight and over repeated exposures,” said lead author Angus Carey-Douglas of Save the Elephants. “Our results suggest that these habituation effects may last over many months if not years.”
The research team conducted 35 quadcopter drone trials on 14 known elephant families in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves in northern Kenya. While about half the elephants initially showed mild signs of disturbance—such as trunk lifting or pausing—these reactions diminished rapidly, usually fading within six minutes.
This tolerance opens the door for drones to serve as non-invasive observation platforms. Since the 1960s, elephant behaviour has primarily been studied from ground vehicles or stationary platforms. Aerial perspectives offer a new way to quantify social interactions within a herd.
“New technologies are expanding our ability to perceive, analyse and understand the wild world in a way that was previously unthinkable,” said STE CEO Frank Pope. “This study promises to open a new window onto how elephants work.”
The data gathered by on-board cameras and sensors is already yielding results. The team reported gaining new insights into elephant sleeping habits under the cover of darkness using thermal cameras. They are also developing AI-enabled software capable of automatically determining the age and sex of individual animals from the aerial footage.
“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,” said study co-author Professor Fritz Vollrath of Oxford University’s Department of Biology.
The study was supported by the Colossal Foundation, an organisation known for its “de-extinction” technology efforts. Matt James, the foundation’s Executive Director, noted that tools developed for genetic resurrection are proving vital for protecting existing biodiversity.
Despite the promising findings, researchers cautioned that drone use must remain strictly regulated. In Kenya, recreational drone flights are prohibited in national parks to prevent unnecessary stress to wildlife. The STE study was conducted under special permits from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute.
Read the complete study – Elephant habituation to drones as a behavioural observation tool – here https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25762-2
