Drone pilot uses innovative approach to aid in disaster recovery

A drone pilot developed a device that can help save animals trapped in the chaos of natural disasters, including hurricanes and wildfires.

Douglas Thron created a drone that can locate confined critters with the help of an infrared camera, Reuters reported. Once the camera identifies an animal, crews can come in to aid in the rescue.

There is no consistent data available on the number of animals that die trapped in wildfires, according to a report from National Geographic last year, but animal escape instincts aren't always going to save them. For example, a koala might climb a tree, which could leave the critter confined.

Thron has already saved hundreds of animals -- from Australia to the Bahamas -- no matter how small. He's jumped into action in the wake of hurricanes Dorian and Laura, as well as a wildfire in Oregon, among other disasters.

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After Hurricane Dorian pounded the northern Bahamas for two days in 2019, decimating the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, Thron jumped in to help rescue dogs. The hurricane's destructive winds blew at more than 185 mph. Some dogs that survived the catastrophic blow, including one later named Miracle, were found alive in the rubble weeks and even a month after the storm ravaged the area.

Douglas Thron retrieves a drone. (Reuters)

Thron also sprung into action to rescue animals in the wake of Hurricane Laura in August 2020. The Category 4 hurricane tore through Cameron, Louisiana, and unleashed 150-mph winds.

Thron came up with the idea for the drone while working as a cinematographer on a film about animal rescue.

"I thought, 'Imagine if we put this infrared scope on a drone, how many more animals you could actually find'," Thron told Reuters.

The drone, which features a spotlight and zoom lens, can locate animals much faster than previous technologies. The device is also quiet, so it doesn't make loud noises that could frighten animals.

The drone's infrared camera can help to identify animals. (Reuters)

During Australia's devastating bushfires in 2020, Thron was hired by the World Wildlife Foundation to save as many animals as he could, from "spiny-looking, porcupinelike animals like echidnas, to tiny pygmy possums" that were the size of a mouse. The crisis killed or displaced nearly 3 billion animals, including koalas and wombats, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.

In the past two years, Thron also helped to rescue critters in Louisiana and Puerto Rico, he told Reuters.

Thron is the subject of the documentary "Doug to the Rescue," which follows his work to save animals in emergency zones. In the documentary's final episode, Thron tracks down an abandoned dog in San Bernardino, California. He and his girlfriend adopted the young canine, Ghost, who joins the duo on their adventures, according to Reuters.

In the future, Thron wants to train other drone pilots to use infrared technology.

"With the natural disasters getting bigger and bigger, my ultimate goal is to have an animal rescue ranch where people can adopt these animals because with the bulk of the animals, the owners are never found or they're abandoned."

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