VolAero Drones has demonstrated that drones equipped with state-of-the-art thermal imaging equipment can effectively spot and track pythons at night – their prime hunting time. Over 100,000 Burmese pythons infesting the Florida Everglades have decimated 90 percent of small wildlife while surviving all attempts at eradication.
“Python hunters finally have a tool to make hunting more efficient, bringing down the python numbers that are devastating Florida’s Everglades,” said Bill Booth, a Florida outdoorsman working with VolAero. “This drone and thermal technology is light-years ahead of shining a flashlight into the darkness and hoping for the best. The thermal imagery picked up not just the monster pythons, but also native snakes as small as 18 inches. This suggests that we’ll be able to spot and eliminate clusters of python hatchlings, which will help curb their reproductive cycle.”
“Along with Bart Bruni, of Bruni Infrared Inc., who is one of 21 certified Master Thermographers in the world, we’ve put tech to use where traditional methods have been ineffective in resolving this environmental challenge,” said Charles Zwebner, CEO of VolAero.
VolAero will be sharing this demonstration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Everglades National Park, South Florida Water Management District and other organizations engaged in python eradication campaign.
