Data and code from: Elephant habituation to drones as a behavioural observation tool

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, known as UAVs or drones, are increasingly important as a tool in wildlife research and conservation. However, it is crucial to quantify as well as qualify the response of target species to drones. We measured the reaction of African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) to an off-the-shelf quadcopter drone during sequences of repeated trials. In total, we conducted 35 trials involving 14 distinct and individually identified elephant groups, exposing them to the drone on up to four separate occasions. Only half of trials recorded any evidence of disturbed behaviour, and there was a consistent reduction in the proportion of elephants appearing disturbed over the course of a single exposure as well as over the course of successive exposures. Nonetheless, some small-scale changes in activity patterns were observed even after repeated trials. Our results show that elephants can habituate to drones, especially when they are flown to minimise disturbance. This suggests that drones can be used as a non-invasive technology to monitor elephant behaviour, provided that baseline activity patterns are recorded and quantified prior to drone exposure.