Police in the Netherlands have partnered with Guard From Above, a company based in The Hague, to test the possibility of using eagles to capture drones. After all, why program a complicated machine to do so when you've already got a natural resource adept at midair interception?
This video shows a trained eagle swooping in and grabbing a DJI Phantom unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with its talons, then flying to a secluded location with its prize.
Take into account the findings of a 2009 study into how the birds' talons are uniquely specialized tools for aerial hunting, the fact that humans have millennia of experience training birds of prey, and the police grappling with a rapidly changing drone technology landscape, and you've got a perfect intersection of factors.
While training raptors to snatch drones is a decidedly low-tech solution to a high-tech problem, that doesn't mean that industry is sitting idly by. A few weeks back, Michigan Tech announced one of its professors had developed a hunter drone capable of catching smaller rogue drones, like the oneshobbyists keepflying near the White House. Check out a video of the new development in robo-falconry right here:
But let's get back to those birds. Now, you may not be among the world's 23 million people who speak Dutch, but that doesn't mean you can't marvel at some avian majesty in the extended video below. Enjoy!
Now That's InterestingThe International Association for Falconry celebrates World Falconry Day every November 16.
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