Dutch police have enlisted the help of eagles to combat potential terrorist attacks by drones in a successful test carried out before the media on Monday near The Hague.
The unusual weapon had been tested several months ago, a police spokesman said, adding that the first results were very promising.
The police and anti-terrorist authorities plan to make a final decision on whether to use the birds of prey in the summer.
“It is a low-tech solution for a high-tech problem,” said Sjoerd Hoogendoorn, director of the company Guard from Above, which provides the eagles.
Watch: Guards from Above demonstration video:
The company has trained and tried out several types of birds of prey. Training the birds, which relies on their hunting instinct, takes more than a year.
“For the birds a drone like that is like a piece of prey that they snatch in the air and take to a safe place,” Hoogendoorn said.
Press reports say that the London Metropolitan Police is also interested in using the birds.