GUEST POST: MEET NILESH, WILDLIFE DRONE PILOT

Hello, I am Nilesh Singh and I am a drone pilot…

It has been my childhood dream to do the work I do; everyday there is something new to learn and to explore!

I have written this blog on my experience working as a wildlife drone pilot at Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India whilst pursuing my masters degree in wildlife conservation.

Blog pilot Nilesh with drone at Sariska Tiger Reserve

As a drone pilot, I am responsible for effectively and safely piloting an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or 'drone' as we now know them. I am based on the ground, operating my drone by either a handheld console or via a computer. My role includes tiger monitoring, studying floral distribution and village relocation.

Drone in use at Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India

Aerial photography has had a remarkable place in history since before World War 1 and over the years has developed to a great extent. 

Sariska Tiger Reserve is a reserve of nearly 900 square kilometres situated in the Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. Here a Wildlife Surveillance and Anti-Poaching System (WS&APS) has been installed and these different surveillance cameras record the everyday life of the forest and wildlife conservation.  One of the major challenges is that the forest landscape is vast, with very uneven terrain making it difficult to patrol and monitor.

The introduction of camera technology and the the use of drones has made a huge improvement to the efficiency of the forest department, particularly patrolling against illegal activities, such as detecting enemy poachers, as well as monitoring wildlife activity and habitat destruction. 

I am very grateful that I am able to use this technology for conservation and I am going to share with you some of my day to day activities.

Tiger monitoring

The tiger is the world’s largest big cat. Their photogenic features make them very popular with wildlife photographers across the world. 

They are found in amazingly diverse habitats including tropical and tropical dry forest and even mangrove swamps. Unfortunately, 93% of lands once inhabited by tigers have now disappeared, primarily because of expanding human activity.

Tigers are solitary animals and individuals roam across large areas, maybe as much as 100 square kilometres, also known as their home range. It can become extremely difficult to follow them specifically in dense and hilly terrain.

Tigers mark their range with urine and faeces over a period of days or weeks to let other tigers know that the space is occupied. During the monsoon (rainy) season tracking tigers becomes even trickier as it becomes more difficult to track pugmarks (footprints) and scat (tiger poo).

I use the drone to find tiger evidence when a tiger is unable to be traced; they can be hard to see becauses of their excellent camouflage. If needed we use thermal imaging cameras to track tiger movement.

Tige at Sariska Tiger Reserve captured by Ajay Kumar

Village Relocation: 

Villagers are dependent on the forest for food and shelter to sustain so relocation is necessary so we can protect the environment from habitat loss. The use of Aerial videography aids our understanding of the terrain and natural resources around the site helping us to manage site relocation.

The use of drones

Drones are being used in agriculture, for pollination, for rescue operations, in the military, environmental services, aerial cinematography and many more. In wildlife, this technology is used for monitoring migration patterns, mitigating human wildlife conflict, mapping and forest management.

Drones are also used in environmental data collection including deforestation, fragmentation, disaster management, land mapping and boundary planning, atmospheric data, habitat destruction, monitoring plant, forest cover precision farming, soil erosion study and change detection.

Drone equipment labelled

Challenges faced by a wildlife drone pilot

• Working in the jungle is always be exciting but travelling very long distances make this job both physically and mentally challenging.

• A drone pilot must maintain individual privacy and drone safety.  Blinking red and green LED lights help us to understand right and left directions in the air.

• We must ensure that we are a safe distance from all wildlife, so no animal is disturbed by the drone.

• The drone is at risk of animal attack as large birds may try to attack it.

• The weather conditions like drizzle, wind or rain means that use of the technology is weather dependent.

• There could be a software malfunction or network error.

• A drone is at risk of being hacked.