Have you ever discover something flying low overhead and felt your marrow wash just that picayune bit quicker ? Well , it turns out that bear do , too . In fact , they are terrify of unknown flying objects ( UFOs ) – specifically , remote-controlled aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) , or drones .
The enquiry was conducted by scientist from the University of Minnesota . Published in the journalCurrent Biology , the scientists fitted American black bear in northwest Minnesota with GPS collars and cardiac biologgers . This give them the bear ’s location every two min , and also constantly updated the squad on their heartbeat .
Knowing their location , the squad then sent modest droning fly over the locations that the bears were in . In entire 18 flights were performed over four bears . On just two occasions , the bear picture a major change in their behavior . But on every single flight , the heart charge per unit of the bear increase – sometimes dramatically , as much as four times .
" Some of the spikes in the heart rate of the bear were far beyond what we expected , " said star source Mark Ditmer of the University of Minnesota in astatement . " We had one bear increase her heart charge per unit by approximately 400 percent – from 41 beats per minute to 162 beat per minute . Keep in nous this was the strongest reply we saw , but it was shock nonetheless . "
Mark prepare to fly one of the pilotless aircraft . Jessie Tanner .
UAVs are beingincreasingly usedby wildlife researcher to observe animals , such as endangered species in difficult - to - arrive at terrain . But this study suggest that the practice could be harming the animals . The fact that the animals do not show a major alteration in their behavior would evoke they do n’t mind the drones in their neighborhood , but the biologgers show otherwise .
" Without the exercise of the biologger , we would have concluded that bears only now and again respond to UAVs , " said Ditmer . " UAVs hold tremendous potential for scientific inquiry and as tools for conservation . However , until we know which species are kind of UAVs , at what length animals react to the presence of UAVs , and whether or not somebody can habituate to their presence , we take to exercise caution when using them around wildlife . "
The squad ’s next plan is to find out if confined bear can find out to get used to UAV trajectory . Until that can be deduct , note beast with drones may not be that advisable .
