AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Dutch National Police released a video showing its efforts to training eagles to hunt down drones during emergencies.
Dutch police hope to use the eagles in situations where bringing a down a drone by other means, even with it landing on a safety net, could put people on the ground at risk. Using eagles could give police more control over where a drone comes down.
"There are situations in which drones are not allowed to fly. This has almost always to do with security," Mark Wiebe, an innovation manager for the Dutch National Police, said in a statement. "You can also imagine that people want to create beautiful images of an event and a drone to fly above the crowd. If the drone falls from the sky, that can be dangerous for the people."
The Guards From Above training company is working with police to train the birds. Although eagles have powerful talons, motors on a drone could still hurt the bird. A police spokesperson said officials will look for ways to better protect the eagles as they perform more drone-catching attempts in the coming months.
