Netherlands: Police eagles and rats fired from job
“The police stop the use of birds of prey to intercept unwanted drones. A year after the start of this project, it appears that this form of innovation does not have the desired result, partly because the technical development of drones is so fast. (…) In 2016, the police decided to deploy birds of prey operation against unwanted drones. The police bought sea eagle chicks to train and started training their own bird guides. (…) The self-training, keeping and deployment of the birds of prey turns out to be more complex and difficult to implement in practice than previously shown in the project. It also proved more costly. The operational demand for support is less than expected, with the underlying reason that the bird of prey could also be a safety risk because he might not be doing what he was trained for. In controlled training situations the birds of prey performed well, but what if it is 'real'?”
Since also some trained rats were not as effective as expected, both projects were stopped. According to the news release, “the birds of prey are accommodated in a suitable location where expert care is guaranteed. The rats have now found a good home.” 6 December 2017, Dutch Police/News
https://www.politie.nl/nieuws/2017/dece ... atten.html
The Steadfast Tin Soldier. By Vilhelm Pedersen, public domain
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