Over 500 Roe Deer Fawns Rescued with Drones

This spring, drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras were deployed for the fourth time on a large scale in Graubünden for roe deer fawn rescue.

Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Graubünden's hunters as well as farmers, 552 newborn roe deer were found and saved from potential death by mowing — only to be treacherously shot a few months later by hobby hunters out on the hunt. That is around 85 wild animals more than in the previous year, which was already a record year.

From the end of May to the beginning of July, around 1,720 operations were flown — approximately 400 more than in 2021 — as reported by the Office for Hunting and Lies in Graubünden. With 552 rescued fawns across the entire canton, this is the most successful roe deer fawn rescue season to date. This impressive figure was only achievable thanks to the tireless dedication of many motivated drone pilots.

Continuing to Fly at a High Level

Across Graubünden, around 190 pilots are out and about from mid-May to mid-July for the benefit of roe deer fawns – always in the early morning or late evening. In total, 24 drones are deployed on every mowing day across almost all regions of Graubünden. The now high level of success is to be maintained in the coming year, and even more pilots as well as additional helpers are to be recruited for the roe deer fawn rescue effort.

The required personnel are recruited largely from the hunting sections of the affected regions. Depending on the region, the sections, the responsible wildlife wardens, and the farmers coordinate the operations together, or the sections handle this independently. The hunting community has specifically set up an on-call service for this purpose. Without the willingness of hunters and cooperation with agriculture, the project could not be realized. In the coming spring, further training courses are to be offered again in order to advance roe deer fawn rescue even further.