Effective fine‐scale drone monitoring of wild Asian elephants for conflict mitigation and ecological research

Obtaining high‐resolution spatiotemporal data on animal behaviour is critical for both ecological research and conflict mitigation, yet it remains difficult for large species in dense habitats.

In May–June 2021, a herd of 17 wild Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) entered and remained at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, a popular tourist destination and research facility in south‐western Yunnan, China. We took advantage of this rare and unforeseen incursion to test the effectiveness of small unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) equipped with infrared cameras for monitoring wildlife at high spatiotemporal resolution in tropical forests near human activity. To monitor the elephants during this sensitive period, we aimed to locate the elephants and record their behaviours on an hourly basis over 20 days.

Our drone‐based monitoring achieved a 62.7% success rate in locating elephants, with detection rates peaking at night (~95% at midnight). Generalized linear models showed that detection declined with rising temperature, rainfall and solar radiation, but improved with higher humidity and visibility. Elephants spent 45.9% of their time feeding, 27.2% resting, 19.9% moving and 7% drinking. Step‐selection functions revealed a strong preference for habitats near water sources and on gentle slopes, while canopy structure had negligible effects.

Synthesis and applications : Our results demonstrate that drone‐based monitoring can feasibly track large mammals in complex field environments while providing quantitative benchmarks for elephant behaviour under real‐world conditions. In turn, these findings underscore the potential of drone technology to enhance wildlife monitoring and support effective human–elephant conflict management. Specifically, we recommend prioritizing night flights when detection probability peaks, taking advantage of short clear‐weather windows, avoiding periods of heavy rain and intense solar radiation, and concentrating search efforts along riparian corridors and gentle slopes where elephants are most likely to occur.