Australasian Bitterns x Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia

ENDANGERED SPECIES

Wildlife Drones partnered with the Ricegrower’s Association of Australia to trial thermal imaging to detect Australasian Bittern nests in Ramsar wetland habitat.

This world first trial was a learning experience for all involved. Bittern nests were challenging to identify due to the dense wetland vegetation. However, researchers were still able to use the thermal camera to identify adult bitterns in real-time and direct ground crew to locate and tag them.

Wildlife Drones’ experience with drone technology has ensured our project fully evaluated the capabilities of thermal drone technology to survey the NSW Ramsar listed wetlands in the Murray Valley National Park

Neil Bull
Environmental Projects Manager, Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia