Speaking of nature preservation – can you elaborate on that? Obviously, the first step is the reduced disturbance of animals, but are there other aspects where thermal can help?
Thermal devices are extremely valuable for spotting distressed birds. A bird in trouble will often lose heat from unusual places – typically, it’s the head and the feet that radiate heat, and in water birds, the rest of the body is carefully protected. But if an animal is sick, in distress, or otherwise unwell, it won’t have the resources to take proper care of its plumage, and, in return, begin radiating heat from other body parts. Noticing these anomalies with the naked eye is practically impossible, but if you’re looking through thermal, you can alert authorities and they will intervene.
Then there’s the issue of invasive species. For example, raccoons pose a growing threat to local bird populations in Lithuania, as they can climb trees and access nests that natural predators can’t reach. Using thermal vision, we can monitor and manage such threats humanely.
Finally, it’s really helpful in doing population accounting, protecting nests and less-common species.
And I would really like to stress that it’s absolutely essential to respect wildlife. Even with advanced tools, we should keep our distance, especially from nests. And I think thermal vision really helps with that – we can discover new things, be more efficient, and, at the same time, retain minimal impact on wildlife.
