Wildlife, Animal Poacher | featured news

They're better known as stealthy killing machines to take out suspected terrorists with pinpoint accuracy. But drones are also being put to more benign use in skies across several continents to track endangered wildlife, spot poachers and chart forest loss. Although it's still the "dawn of drone ecology," as one innovator calls it, these unmanned aerial vehicles are already skimming over Indonesia's jungle canopy to photograph orangutans, protecting rhinos in Nepal and studying invasive aquatic plants in Florida.

Nighttime deer poachers beware — that shadowy creature on the side of the road may just be remote-controlled.

The Kenya Wildlife Service on Friday said its agents shot dead two suspected poachers who they saw shooting at a herd of elephants in one of the country's famous national parks.