Service suspended... Google's delivery drone attacked by crows [Video]

Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency/Robert Alexander/Getty Images

In Australia, delivery drones have been repeatedly attacked by birds, forcing them to suspend service in parts of Canberra. Delivery service Wing said it would wait until researchers evaluated the birds' behavior. A man who filmed the drone attack said it was "just a matter of time" before it crashed. Wing, a drone delivery service in the Australian capital of Canberra, said it had to temporarily suspend its services after its drones continued to be attacked by crows guarding their nests. Wing, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has been delivering everything from coffee to medicine to office supplies to residents in Canberra since 2019. However, the company announced on September 21 that it was suspending its service in some parts of Canberra after reports of crows attacking drones. The Canberra Times reported. Canberra is currently in lockdown due to the new coronavirus, and demand for drone deliveries has surged. Local resident Ben Roberts, who used the drone service to order coffee every morning, posted a video of the crow attack online. "It was only a matter of time before the crows crashed the drone. They probably thought it was a Terminator or something," Roberts told the Canberra Times. Birds such as magpies, hawks and wedge-tailed eagles have also been known to attack drones. Click here for the video. In a statement to local customers, Wing said in a statement to ABC News Australia, "We are aware that some birds are exhibiting territorial behavior and pounce on moving objects in the area. I am confirming," he said. A Wing spokesperson told Insider that the drone in the video completed the delivery and returned to the facility after being attacked. The company's drones "have multiple levels of redundancy to ensure that operations can continue safely if something like this happens," he said. Wing said it was suspending service to a "limited number" of customers, but declined to give specific numbers. With the exception of some areas, service will not be affected. Ornithologist Neil Hermes told ABC News Australia that although crows are very territorial, they had never attacked a drone before. “Crows raid dogs and operate around their dens, but attacking drones is new,” Harms said. UAV Training Australia chief pilot and instructor Wayne Condon told ABC News Australia that drone operators should avoid known nesting sites. . "At the end of the day, the skies belong to the birds and we are the visitors. We can only hope that if we act quickly, the drones will be saved and the birds will not be harmed!" Condon told The Canberra Times. told to In August, also in Brisbane, Australia, a mother stumbled while trying to escape a magpie attack, and a five-month-old baby fell in her arms and died tragically. From the editorial department: This article has been updated with Wing's comments (September 29, 2021, 19:05). [Original: Watch a raven attack a delivery drone from Google's sister company, forcing it to suspend some deliveries in Australia] (Translation: Mayuko Oba Editing: Yoshimi Yamaguchi)

Sophia Ankel