The countryside war over foxhunting is turning hi-tech as hunters and hunt saboteurs use “attack drones” to film or attack one another’s activities.
The battle to uphold the legal ban on foxhunting has repeatedly led to violence since the activity was outlawed in 2005.
But now, in at least one case, hunts have been filmed using a drone equipped with a weighted wire in what’s thought to be an attempt to destroy aerial footage that would expose illegal foxhunting.
Wildlife protectors say drones enable them to watch hunts’ behaviour without being physically attacked and to see what happens when hunts or hounds go onto private land.
Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs have revealed footage taken by their drone of what they say is the Beaufort Hunt hunting foxes and their hounds attacking a fox in a badger sett.
In what’s thought to be the first case of its kind in the UK, the hunt allegedly targeted the saboteurs’ drone with one of their own equipped with a wire and weight to entangle and disable the other drone.
Eventually it caused both drones, each weighing nearly 1kg, to crash, according to Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs, who captured it on footage.
A hunt rider rushed to the scene and was filmed by hand-held cameras stamping something into the ground, allegedly to destroy the drone and erase any evidence. Hunt employees were then filmed “hiding the remains of the sab drone while others relaunched the hunt’s attack drone”, according to Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs.
Police were called but the hunt monitors accused them of failing to conduct a thorough search.
In a later case, the Beaufort Hunt again tried to target a drone monitoring their activities. This time, the saboteurs’ drone evaded destruction, capturing footage of the “hostile” drone, which showed three hunt members “untangling the wire from their drone”.
The saboteurs told police there was clear evidence of illegal drone use, aviation offences and illegal hunting.
The same day, hunt monitors filmed a man they said they knew was a hunt member leaping out of his car to launch an “unprovoked physical assault” on a saboteur walking past on a public road.
“Without provocation or warning he grabbed the sab by the hair and kept pulling, wrenching his head and neck, causing pain,” a spokesman for the Hunt Saboteurs said. Footage shows the man pulling on his victim’s hair.
As the saboteur tried to escape into a car, the attacker allegedly tried to steal further recording equipment to “suppress evidence of his assault”.
A woman, who monitors also identified as a long-standing hunt member, scratched and pulled the hair of another saboteur who tried to intervene, video footage shows.
The saboteurs say they know the identities of the hunters.
Police arrested a woman, and the male huntsman was alleged by saboteurs to have fled.
The hunt saboteurs reported both drone incidents to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Some saboteur groups have been using drones, which cost from £300 to about £2,500, since 2021.
Police also use them, but hunts are only just starting to use them.
Roger Swaine, a covert surveillance specialist, said hunts were very nervous of drones because they allow access to areas such as woods and hollows that saboteurs and monitors historically struggle to reach on foot.
He said drone footage, because it lacks sound, may not be sufficient to support a charge and conviction. “But the footage can be damning enough to hurt the public reputation of the hunters involved. And that is all that is required for effective campaigning and lobbying,” he said.
In a separate case, a hunt master and assistant were in September found guilty of illegally hunting a fox with dogs, and fined after Weymouth magistrates saw drone footage from saboteurs showing the fox running out of a maize field with foxhounds in close pursuit.
A spokesperson for the saboteurs said: “The Duke of Beaufort Hunt, which was frequented by the King, Queen and Prince of Wales, are attempting to prevent legal evidence-gathering by assaulting saboteurs and disabling their drones in flight.
“What we captured in just one day demonstrates the desperate ruthlessness and violence as illegal foxhunts engage in across the country to try and cover up their ongoing crime spree against Britain’s wildlife.
“This footage shows how hunts are dedicated to carrying on hunting, they have not changed their behaviour since the ban, instead they are putting their energy and effort into new ways of getting away with it, and avoiding exposure.”
A spokesperson for the Beaufort Hunt, which says it legally hunts trails, said: “The Beaufort Hunt does not condone illegal activity or anti-social behaviour, even in the case of extreme provocation.”
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Police, who are investigating the assaults, said: “The investigation remains ongoing and officers continue to carry out enquiries. A woman was arrested on suspicious of common assault and causing actual bodily harm and has been released on conditional bail.”
Wiltshire Police said they were investigating the alleged drone offences.
The British Hound Sports Association and Countryside Alliance did not respond to requests to comment.
