Eagles Vs Gold Mining: Birds Prey On Mining Company’s Drones

17 November 2016

-Australian wedge-tailed eagles are repeatedly attacking surveying drones belonging to one of the world’s biggest gold mining companies, causing more than AU$100,000 (US$75,000) in damage.

Gold Fields Ltd has been using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as a surveying tool on a mine near Kambalda in Western Australia.

The drones are worth AU$10,000 apiece and the cameras attached to them cost another AU$10,000. At a mining conference this week they were described as “the biggest step forward for surveying since global positioning systems (GPS),”  ABC reports.

However, the expensive aircraft have repeatedly fallen victim to a bigger, more powerful commander of the skies.