Animal activists in UK to use drones to curb illegal hunting

Anti-hunting drones? Animal welfare activists in the UK may now start using remote control aircraft to help catch people illegally hunting.
The 'League against Cruel Sports' will use cameras mounted on the aircraft to monitor any illegal activity that would otherwise be difficult to film on the ground.
A charity spokeswoman said evidence would be collected and passed on to the police.
"No one owns the upper stratum of airspace so provided the drones fly at a reasonable height so as not to cause a nuisance they will not be trespassing," a spokeswoman for the league was quoted by the BBC as saying.

"We would only use this equipment if we believed illegal activity was taking place, we wouldn't just go out and monitor anybody," she said.
The group said it would be working with ShadowView, a non-profit aerial surveillance and monitoring organisation, to gather evidence of hunts and individuals illegally hunting and committing other wildlife crimes such as hare coursing and badger baiting.

It has been illegal to use dogs to hunt animals in England and Wales since 2005, and in Scotland since 2002.
Hunts are no longer allowed to use dogs to chase foxes, but are instead supposed to use techniques such as drag hunting, where dogs set off on the trail of a scent laid about 20 minutes in advance by a runner or rider dragging a lure.

"There is a war in the countryside and whilst there are still individuals determined to flout the law and seek new ways to avoid detection, the league will continue to explore safe, tested and innovative technology to further our charitable aim of ending cruelty to animals in the name of sport," Chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, Joe Duckworth, said.
The league said drones had already been used by the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Northern Ireland to deter badger baiters, and by the WWF in operations against poachers in Africa.