Leave them in peace

Technical innovation nearly always provokes concerns that manifest as protests.

The first car drivers were preceded by men waving flags so the road might be cleared and the composure of cart horses remain undisturbed.

Luddites smashed cotton mills and printers opposed single-keystroke technology. None of those protests prevented the arrival of a changed future.

That, however, does not mean that some inventions, if used unwisely, can cause unintended harm.

In that context, conservationists have raised what seem entirely plausible concerns about the impact using drones to film wildlife, especially protected species, might have.

Anyone with even the flimsiest understanding of wildlife will know that a secure habitat is essential for animals and birds.

Anything, for whatever reason, that disturbs that is, like nearly all human intervention, a real threat.

Using drones to film wild animals may fall into the category.

Maybe it’s time to celebrate our increasingly stressed wildlife by doing the simplest of all things — leaving them in peace.