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.