Don't use drones to pursue wildlife, Arizona says

Drones, those wildly popular remote-controlled flying devices, cannot legally be used for pursuing, harassing or harvesting wildlife, state wildlife officials said this week.

“We wanted to time this with the Christmas gift season as a reminder for sportsmen to be responsible with their new gift” if that gift happens to be a drone, said Dale Hajek, spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Department officials said drones are considered “aircraft,” which means they “cannot lawfully be used for pursuing, disturbing, harassing or taking wildlife.”

Gene Elms, the department’s law-enforcement branch chief, said, “The use of drones for the harassment and sport harvest of wildlife is not only illegal, but it undermines the ‘fair chase’ hunting ethic and the very tenets of the North American model of wildlife conservation.”

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Penalties for violations could range from fines to revocations of hunting licen-

ses, Hajek said.

He said drones can legally be used to observe wildlife up to 48 hours before the start of a big-game hunting season, but such use must not be done in a way that would disturb or harass animals.

Officials said anyone with information about an individual using a drone to pursue, disturb, harass, or locate wildlife is encouraged to contact the department’s Operation Game Thief hot line at (800) 352-0700, or at www.azgfd.gov/thief on the Internet.