Drones are very important to the NHU. There was always a concern that they would upset the animals however most animals are not bothered by them, they seem to simply look at them as other animals. There are drone crashes, over the series there were about 10.
A member of the audience asked if the change of technology would affect crews. For example if you now need to fly a drone, do you hire new people? The answer was a very reassuring that the crews don’t change, they just learn new skills! I suppose for the NHU just having people prepared to travel to the ends of the Earth is a good enough qualification.
Another question concerned the distance of the drone from the animals. This was mainly governed by the law in the Country being filmed in.
There are 1500 people worldwide who work for the NHU on their projects.