MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The unmanned aerial vehicles ZALA produced by the Kalashnikov Group, the manufacturer of the famous AK-74 assault rifle, have facilitated environmentalists’ fight against poachers, Kalashnikov Group spokeswoman Sofiya Ivanova told TASS on Monday.
"Our unmanned aerial vehicle helps monitor wildlife and track illegal activity on the territory of state nature preservers. The aerial vehicle remains unnoticeable for people and animals. The drone can be used at any time of day or night in an automated mode for qualitative and effective terrain monitoring," the spokeswoman said.
The Kalashnikov Group has already transferred a ZALA 421-EM drone to an environmental fund in the Kurgan Region in the Urals for free, she said.
"The drone’s tests were held on the territory of the Petukhovo nature preserve," the Kalashnikov Group spokeswoman said.
The drone helps conduct an inventory of fauna species within a radius of 50 kilometers along complex closed routes. The drone is used to monitor Medvezhye Lake from the air. As soon as the drone detects poachers, a forest protection group is dispatched to the scene to detain trespassers and prevent offences.
Over the past season alone, the drone registered several facts of the illegal production of cysts and tracked poachers.