Category: Fawn rescue

Members of our association have been actively involved in fawn rescue for several years. The chairman of the association, Wolfgang Hennig, has made his private drone (DJI 2 Mavic EA) available to the association. Organisationally, the members of this association also work under the umbrella of Kitzrettung Oberfranken. In 2023 alone, over 600 fawns were rescued by Kitzrettung Oberfranken. The members of our association alone rescued around 200 fawns.
In 2024, our association received another drone with a thermal imaging camera (DJI Mavic 3 T). This means that 195 fawns were rescued again this year by the 5 pilots of our association with the 2 drones. As we work together with the association ‘Kitzrettung Oberfranken e.V.’, this association came to the proud total of 819 fawns in 2024.
We perceive the deer as forest animals. However, their actual home is outside the forest, which is why they lay their fawns in the meadows year after year. As mowing machines have become ever faster and ever wider (mowers up to 12 metres wide), thousands of fawns are killed by mowing in Germany every year. They can be saved by walking through the meadows before mowing. However, this is very time-consuming and labour-intensive. It is more elegant to fly over the meadow beforehand using a drone with a thermal imaging camera.
It is generally not possible to search for fawns using a drone with a normal visual image. The grass is very high before mowing and covers the fawns so that they cannot be seen. A thermal imaging camera is therefore required on the drone. This in turn requires a temperature difference between the fawn and its surroundings. For the drone pilot, this means being in the meadow between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. before the earth warms up. When the fawns are sighted, the helpers rush to them. They collect the fawns in a box and place them in a safe position outside the meadow. After the mowing, which should take place very quickly, the fawns are released again. The fawn mother then collects her fawns and takes them to safety (usually to a nearby forest).
It is important that the fawns are not touched by the helper so that the human odour is not transferred to the fawn. The helpers therefore wear gloves. A large amount of grass is placed between the gloves as additional protection.
In 2023, our association chairman and his helper Anja Görke rescued a white fawn. Bingo! The pictures went viral across the country.