Wedge-tailed eagles take out drones

November 25, 2016
Issue 
1120
News
A wedge-tailed eagle capturing a drone.

Wedge-tailed eagles have found a new but unlikely prey in the Western Australian goldfields: mining company surveying drones.

South African goldmining company Gold Fields, the world's seventh-biggest gold producer, has lost nine drones to the birds, costing the company more than $100,000.

Wedge-tailed eagles are one of the largest birds of prey in the world.

Their wingspan is more than twice that of the one metre-wide drones and they have razor-sharp talons that allow them to grab and destroy the drones in flight.

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Environment
Wedge-tailed eagle
Gold Fields
drones
Australia

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