WO2015188831A1

WO2015188831A1 - Method for removing animals from a field

Info

Publication number: WO2015188831A1
Application number: PCT/DK2015/050155
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rasmus Nyholm JØRGENSEN; Kim Arild STEEN; Carsten Riis OLESEN
Original assignee: Aarhus Universitet
Priority date: 2014-06-10
Filing date: 2015-06-10
Publication date: 2015-12-17

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for removing animals from an area before mowing the area, the method comprising: Identifying one or more animals present in the area by use of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) the day before initiation of mowing, and if one or more animals are detected within the area, releasing an animal repellent from the UAV, at and/or near the identified animal(s).

Description

Method for removing animals from a field

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to methods for removing animals from a field/area prior to mowing. In particular, the present invention relates to a UAV based detection system, which is also capable of prompting the animals to leave the area.

Background of the invention

Human-wildlife conflicts is a well-known issue in farming operations. In

agricultural operations, thousands of animals are injured or killed each year, due to increased working widths and speeds of agricultural machinery.

Delayed mowing date, altered mowing patterns (e.g., mowing from the center outwards) or strategy (e.g., leaving edge strips), longer mowing intervals, reduction of speed or higher cutting height have been suggested to reduce wildlife mortality rates. Likewise, searches with trained dogs prior to mowing may enable the farmer to remove e.g., leverets and fawns to safety, whereas areas with bird nests can be marked and avoided. Alternatively, various scaring devices such as flushing bars or plastic sacks set out on poles before mowing have been reported to reduce wildlife mortality. However, wildlife-friendly farming often results in lower efficiency. Therefore, attempts have been made to develop automatic systems capable of detecting wild animals in the crop without unnecessary cessation of the farming operation. For example, a detection system based on infrared sensors has been reported to reduce wildlife mortality in Germany (Infrared sensor for the detection and protection of 299 wildlife. Optical

Engineering 1996, 35, 882-889). The disadvantage of the system proposed is its low efficiency, as the maximum search power is around 3 ha/h, when the weather conditions are fit. During the last two decades, thermal imaging have gained more and more attention in computer vision and digital image processing research and

applications. Thermal imaging have become an interesting technology in agriculture, due to the invariance to illumination and the lowered price on thermal cameras.

Israel, M. (A UAV-based roe deer fawn detection system. 2011, pp. 1-5) have presented an UAV based detection system of animals in a field. This system is however still time consuming since the farmer has to manually enter the field to remove the identified fawns.

US2014148978 discloses a system for directing a bird away from equipment includes an item of equipment and a detector configured to detect a bird that could be harmed by or that could harm the equipment and to determine the proximity of the bird to the equipment. The system also includes an unmanned aerial vehicle and a pilot system configured to control the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Hence, an improved method for removing animals from a field/area to be mowed would be advantageous, and in particular a more time-efficient method would be advantageous. Summary of the invention

Thus, an object of the present invention relates to a method for removing animals from an area to be mowed/harvested. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method that solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art with time efficient removal of animals from an area to be mowed.

Thus, one aspect of the invention relates to a method for removing animals from an area before mowing and/or harvesting the area or part of the area, the method comprising :

a) identify one or more animals present in the area by use of a first

unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein step a) takes place at least the day before initiation of mowing and/or harvesting of the area or part of the area, and

b) if one or more animals are detected within the area, release an animal repellent from said first UAV or from a second UAV, at the one or more animals and/or in the vicinity of the one or more animals at least the day before mowing of the area or part of the area.

Another aspect relates to a UAV comprising a container designed for releasing a load during flight, wherein said load is an animal repellent, such as a liquid repellent, characterized in that said UAV carries the animal repellent.

The present invention will now be described in more detail in the following. Detailed description of the invention

Method for delivering repellent

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a method for removing animals from an area before mowing and/or harvesting the area or part of the area, the method comprising :

a) identify one or more animals present in the area by a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein step a) takes place at least the day before initiation of mowing and/or harvesting of the area or part of the area, and

b) if one or more animals are detected within the area, release an animal repellent from said first UAV or from a second UAV, at the one or more animals and/or in the vicinity of the one or more animals at least the day before mowing.

Several advantages are present when the method of the invention is used compared to the standard methods:

- A repellent is positioned by a UAV, shortly after the animal has been

detected, thus, no manual positioning of the repellent is required.

- The method of detecting and depositing is performed at least the day

before, thus, mowing can be initiated as early as possible the next day, which is important if a large area is to be mowed.

- The repellent induces the animal to leave the area (or induces the mother of the animal to call the fawns out of the area. Thus, the farmer does not have to manually remove animals hiding in the area. To optimize the effect, behavioural studies show that the depositing of the repellent should be conducted at least the day before.

- The complete method can be conducted without having to enter the field in any of the steps. This saves a lot of time and potential damage to the crop.

In the present context the term "in the vicinity of" is to be understood as within 50 meters of the animal such as within 40 meters, such as within 30 meters, such as within 20 meters or such as within 10 meters of the identified animal.

Preferably, the repellent is released close to the animal and not directly on the animal.

Timing of release of repellent

As previously described, the timing of the release of the repellent is important. In the present context the day before is to be understood as there is at least a night between the time of positioning the repellent and time of mowing the area. Thus, in an embodiment step a) takes place between 04: 00 AM and 10: 00 AM the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested. In another embodiment, repellent in step b) is released between 04: 00 AM and 10: 00 AM the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested. An advantage of identifying the animals during early hours the day before is that it is easier to identify warm-blooded animals when the temperature gradient between the animals and the surroundings is as high as possible. The same is the case in the evening the day before mowing. Thus, in a similar embodiment step a) takes place between 16: 00 and 24: 00 the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested. In another embodiment, repellent in step b) is released between 04:00 AM and 10: 00 AM the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested. It is of course to be understood that the above-indicated time intervals may also be used e.g. two days before harvesting and/or three days before harvesting. The highest effect though is believed to be the day before. The reason for depositing the repellent at least the day before, is not the obvious choice. The reason being that it has been realized that during the first weeks of life (e.g. in the case of deer fawns), the fawns do not to flee when a predator approaches but instead try to hide. Thus, by simply leaving repellents (such as wolf- or lynx urine) the fawn will most likely not flee, but instead keep hiding. Thus, if the repellent is deposited on the day of mowing the effect will be minimal. On the other hand, if the repellent is deposited the day before mowing, the mother of the fawn will pick up the scent from the repellent and subsequently call the fawn out of the area. This will normally take place during the night, requiring the repellent to be deposited at the latest the evening before. The same may be the case for hare leverets, and e.g. also for ground nesting birds. Thus, the timing of positioning the repellent is of high importance to optimize the effect.

Thus, by using the method according to the present invention the above advantages can be combined in a single step, by having the UAV release the repellent shortly after identification of the animals hidden in the field.

Type of repellent

Different types of repellent may find use in the present invention. Thus, in an embodiment repellent is selected from the group consisting of predator urine, such as wolf urine, lynx urine, such as Canada Lynx, mink urine, wolf excrements, lynx excrements, mink excrements or concentrated forms thereof, and artificial repellents. The skilled person may find other repellents. For example the company WCS (Wildlife control supplies) sells different types of predator urine and other types of repellents, which may be used. Several types of artificial repellents also exists. In the present context, the term "artificial repellents" relates to repellents having the same effect (or substantially the same effect on warm-blooded animals (preferably herbivores) as predator urine.

The repellent may be delivered from the UAV in different forms. Thus, in yet an embodiment the repellent is a liquid, a solid or semi-solid material impregnated with the repellent. Depending on the specific UAV and the weather conditions, the form of the repellent can be selected.

Animal

Different types of animals may be removed from the area when using the method of the invention. Thus, in an embodiment the animal is selected from the group consisting of warm-blooded animals, such as deer's, deer fawns, Sika deer, Roe deer, Fallow deer, Red deer, hares, hare leverets, wild rabbit, birds, such as ground nesting birds, such as pheasants, partridge and Mallard duck. In the present context, fawns are preferably to be understood as fawns less than a year old, such as less than 6 months old, such as less than 2 months old, or such as less than 1 month old. Similar, a leveret is to be understood as a young hare, especially one less than a year old, such as less than 6 months old, such as less than 2 months old, or such as less than 1 month old.

UAV

Different types of UAV may be used. Thus, in yet an embodiment the UAV is a helicopter, plane, multi rotor (quadro-, hexa-, octo-), or a fixed wing UAV. In a preferred embodiment, the UAV is a small UAV having a max weight of 10 kg, such as max 5 kg, such as max 3 kg, such as max 1 kg. The UAV can be controlled in different ways. In another embodiment, the UAV is remote-controlled or automatically controlled. In a specific embodiment, the automatic control is based on a positioning system such as GPS determining the area/field, automatic identification of the animals and automatic release of repellent. As also described in the background section, different types of control and detection system exists.

The cameras on the UAV may be of different types. Thus, in yet an embodiment the animals are detected by cameras, such as selected from the group consisting of thermal cameras, infrared cameras, colour cameras, polarized thermal cameras, and polarized colour cameras. Preferably, the UAV is equipped with at least a normal camera + a thermal camera. The repellent can be released in different was. In a preferred embodiment, the repellent is released from the first UAV. In this way, only one flight may be required to identify the animals and release the repellent. In another embodiment the repellent is released from the second UAV. By having a second UAV release the repellent, the first UAV can be lighter and thus cover a greater area. Another advantage may be that the type of repellent can subsequently be chosen based on the detected animal(s) and then loaded in the second UAV.

To complete the mowing of the area the method of the invention may further comprise a step c), comprising mowing and/or harvesting the area or part of the area. UAV loaded with repellent

In another aspect, the invention relates to a UAV comprising a container designed for releasing a load during flight, wherein said load is an animal repellent, such as a liquid repellent, characterized in that said UAV carries the animal repellent.

As mentioned above, the type of repellent may vary. Thus, in an embodiment said animal repellent is selected from the group consisting of predator urine, such as wolf urine, lynx urine, such as Canada Lynx, mink urine, wolf excrements, lynx excrements, mink excrements or concentrated forms thereof, and artificial repellents.

In yet an embodiment the UAV further comprises a pump, for releasing the animal repellent. By using a pumping system for releasing the repellent better control during release may be obtained.

It should be noted that embodiments and features described in the context of one of the aspects of the present invention also apply to the other aspects of the invention.

All patent and non-patent references cited in the present application, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

The invention will now be described in further details in the following non-limiting examples.

Examples

Example 1

Removal of animals from an area by the use of an UAV equipped with ordinary and thermal imaging cameras and an integrated container and pump for releasing animal repellent (wolf or lynx urine).

Equipment

Repellent: Wolf and Lynx urine. (WCS - Wildlife control supplies). Method:

Two study areas of each approximately 100 ha lowland area, potentially used for mowing, is scanned for warm-blooded animals using an UAV equipped with conventional and thermal imaging cameras. After identification, a specific area with a minimum of five roe deer fawns is pointed out. Specifically in this area the UAV is now used for spraying/positioning an animal repellent. Each study area is scanned for identification of warm-blooded animals the three flowing days. The two first day's repellents are subsequently sprayed in two specific areas with fawns. Daily UAV facilitated thermal scanning's show if the fawns are removed by the parents due to the repellents.

Example 2

Field studies conducted over two seasons indicate that the method according to the invention was indeed able to induce fawns to move away from an area/field during the night.

Claims

1. A method for removing animals from an area before mowing and/or harvesting the area or part of the area, the method comprising :

a) identify one or more animals present in the area by use of a first

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein step a) and/or step b) takes place between 04: 00 AM and 10: 00 AM the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein step a) and/or step b) takes place between 16: 00 and 24:00 the day before the area is mowed and/or harvested.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the animal is selected from the group consisting of warm-blooded animals, such as deer's, fawns, Sika deer, Roe deer, Fallow deer, Red deer, hare leverets, wild rabbit, birds, such as ground nesting birds, such as pheasants, partridge and Mallard duck.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the repellent is selected from the group consisting of predator urine, such as wolf urine, lynx urine, such as Canada Lynx, mink urine, wolf excrements, lynx excrements, mink excrements or concentrated forms thereof, and artificial repellents.

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the repellent is selected from the group consisting of predator urine, such as wolf urine.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the animals are detected by cameras, such as selected from the group consisting of thermal cameras, infrared cameras, colour cameras, polarized thermal cameras, and polarized colour cameras.

8. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the repellent is released from the first UAV.