KATHMANDU: Conservationists in Nepal are to send drone aircraft into the skies in the battle to save the Himalayan nation's endangered tigers and rhinos from poachers.

WWF Nepal said it had successfully tested two unmanned “conservation drones” earlier this month in Chitwan National Park, in Nepal's southern plains, the home of a number of the world's rarest animals.

The remote-controlled aircraft would monitor the animals and poachers via cameras and GPS to capture images and video, the organisation said in a statement. The aircraft, with a two-metre wing span and a range of 25kms, can stay in the air for 45 minutes, flying at an altitude of up to 200 metres.—AFP