40 Spectacular Drone Shots of Wildlife and Animals!

Here is an exclusive collection of awesome Instagram photos of wildlife and animals captured with a drone!

Drone photography has come a long way when it comes to documenting wildlife and animals from above. Never before seen angles of marine life, herds of animals and the wilderness. Researches and national park conservers can now to a certain degree switch out the micro plane or helicopter for the cheaper drone alternative. Here is an article about that.

Instagram is a great resource for cool drone pics taken by both professionals and ordinary people. In this article, I have found 40 spectacular drone shots of wildlife and animals for you to enjoy, many of them shot top down for the unique aerial perspective. Nature is truly amazing from any angle.

Last post: Review: Eachine E012 is a surprisingly stable and fun ultra-mini drone!

If you have other examples of great animal and wildlife photography done by drone, please leave a comment at the bottom.

The flip side

Lately, stories have emerged in the news that animals become stressed and frightened by drones. I saw a video of a bear cub that climbed a steep mountainside with its mother and got so stressed that it almost fell down. It was terrible to watch and the nearby drone didn’t make the situation better – maybe it was the drone that made them so stressed.

So keep that in mind if you are a drone pilot yourself. The noise of the buzzing sound can scare the animal and the propellers can harm them if they get to close. Here is an article about how the heart rate of wild bears increases due to stress.

But…

Overall animal drone photography is a great tool for research, documentation, and creating beautiful photos of our beautiful world.

If you want to try out drone photography yourself, I recommend starting out with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro which is awesome and have an onboard Hasselblad camera.

Now, here are the great pictures:

1. Lots of flamingos!

Flamingos ll

Et innlegg delt av Sebastian (@sebastianmzh) Nov. 12, 2018 kl. 11:12 PST

2. Salmons circling

Salmon circles. #centralcoastdrones

Et innlegg delt av Reed Plummer Images (@reedplummerimages) Des. 4, 2018 kl. 9:33 PST

3. Drone shot of Mr. Elephant

Hello Mr. Elephant ?. We shot this one during the @abcnews @goodmorningamerica Africa project in Tanzania that recently won the Emmy Award for outstanding Morning Show in 2016 ?. Very proud of @mstefanops who made all of this happen! Captured on @djiglobal Inspire ONE X5r. #wildlifephotography #ngorongoro #djiinspire1 #emmyawards

Et innlegg delt av Ferdinand Wolf (@ferdigrapher) Juli 16, 2017 kl. 12:22 PDT

4. Blacktip reef sharks hunting

The blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, easily identified by the prominent black tips on its fins (especially on the first dorsal fin and its caudal fin). Among the most abundant sharks inhabiting the tropical coral reefs of the Indianand Pacific Oceans, this species prefers shallow, inshore waters. Its exposed first dorsal fin is a common sight in the region. -Wikipedia ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Last year’s second most successful post. #throwback ━ Gear: @djiglobal #Maldives #Holiday #Luxwt #LuxuryWorldTraveler #FaafuAtoll #aerial #Travel #aerialphotography #beautifuldestinations #dronegear #dji #drone #BestVacation #sea #turquoise #blue #Lagoon #shark #iamdji #travelawesome #Мальдивы #马尔代夫 #Malediven #Maldive #몰디브 #Мальдив #Maldivas #المالديف

Et innlegg delt av A. Shuau (@obofili) Feb. 5, 2017 kl. 7:15 PST

5. Humpback whale and seagulls

Humpback whales taking a break to feed on there migration south off the coast of Newfoundland…

Et innlegg delt av Jason Charles Hill (@jasoncharleshill) Juni 20, 2018 kl. 5:09 PDT

6. Curious lion

Up Close & Personal ?

Et innlegg delt av Bachir Moukarzel (@bachir_photo_phactory) Aug. 9, 2018 kl. 5:59 PDT

7. Whale family in Greenland

Greenland is full of surprises especially if you fly your drone 🙂 hello whales ??

Et innlegg delt av AJ Travels (@ajtravel) Aug. 28, 2018 kl. 5:21 PDT

8. The powerful tail of the whale

Tails Up ? @sandmarc Filters & @djiglobal Mavic Pro • • • #bevisuallyinspired #australia #perthisok #justanotherdayinwa #seeaustralia #beautifuldestinations #wonderful_places #doyoutravel #fantastic_earth #exploretocreate #visualsoflife #justgoshoot #lensbible #artsofvisuals #createtoexplore #theimaged #fromwhereidrone #fromwhereistand #illgrammers #earthpix #fatalframes #womenwhodrone #dronegirls #djiglobal #dronegirlsglobal #moodygrams #whaletail #whale #ocean

Et innlegg delt av Sandrine (@sandrinehecq) Okt. 3, 2018 kl. 1:14 PDT

9. Fragile polar bear

Protection of a fragile world,⠀ On August 14, 2017, the Government of Canada and Nunavut agreed and defined the boundaries of the future Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. With 131,000 km², it will be Canada’s largest protected area. In 2016, only 4.7% of marine areas in the Arctic were protected.⠀ ⠀ #Arctic #Nunavut #Canada #polarbear #conservation #TurningTheTide⠀ #SeaIce #Ice #DJI #Dronephotography #DjiGlobal

Et innlegg delt av Florian Ledoux (@florian_ledoux_photographer) Nov. 17, 2018 kl. 2:00 PST

10. Fantastic shadows on a row of camels

Happy to announce that I’ll be helping judge the DJI SkyPixel photo competition this year ?? Entries can be aerial images from any kind of drone kit, and are open now until December 29. Looking forward to checking out at all your entries 🙂 for more information, prize pool, and terms & conditions head to skypixel.com. Good luck! — @skypixelofficial @djiglobal #skypixelphotocontest #skypixel

Et innlegg delt av Jarrad Seng (@jarradseng) Nov. 9, 2017 kl. 2:30 PST

11. Herd of sheep

? How much peace do the Sheep transmit? Photo by @lorenzodcr_ #droneofficial

Et innlegg delt av DRONEOFFICIAL™ (@droneofficial) Mars 9, 2018 kl. 3:03 PST

12. Gorgeous blue whale

Even though the blue whale is extremely large it has a relatively slender body allowing it to travel up to 30 miles per hour for short bursts when it feels threatened or startled. – Hope you all have an awesome weekend!! – #Bluewhale #Natgeo #discoverocean #fromwhereidrone #wildife #bbcearth #monterey #lightroom #djiglobal

Et innlegg delt av Slater Moore (@slatermoorephotography) Juli 27, 2018 kl. 8:58 PDT

13. Lonely elephant

Departure. Fast rising, leaves the morning dew. Cycled to appear again. Encore, downpour. Arrival.

Et innlegg delt av Donal James Boyd (@donalboyd) Mars 8, 2018 kl. 2:14 PST

14. Munk’s devil rays

¡Mobulas! #dronewildlife #bahiadelapaz #oceanlife #loveocean #oceaninspired #oceanconservation #oceanliving #oceanlove #underthesea #marinelife #marinebiology #worldoceansday #whalesharkmexico #wildlife #dronewildlife #lovenature #ourblueplanet #sharksforlife #oneocean #drone #karmagopro #sharks #conservation #wild #nature #ocean #oceaninspired #oceanconservation #oceanliving #oceanlove #underthesea #marinelife #mar #mobula

Et innlegg delt av Dení Ramírez (@deni.ramirez.macias) Mai 12, 2018 kl. 7:53 PDT

15. Bathing elephants

One of our favourite photos are these elephants, taken with our drone in Uganda, in Murchison Falls National Park. It is a always special and nice to see elephants playing in the water. To see them from above is even more special! Please follow the link to see our video from these elephants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhPo1p_bRoA To see our future videos please subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Photo made by: @theworldfromthesky1 #uganda #murchisonfalls #wildlife #nile #elephant #droneuganda #bigfive #dronewildlife #safari #gamedrive

Et innlegg delt av Kazinga Tours Ltd. (@kazingatours) Nov. 20, 2018 kl. 11:24 PST

16. Sea lions at La Jolla Cove

What I’d rather be doing. Happy Friday . . . . . #beautifuldestinations #skyhigh_architecture #caligrammers #exploretocreate #exploringtheglobe #bevisuallyinspired #agameoftones #welltraveled #natgeotravel #jaw_dropping_shots #aov5k #theimaged #instagood #visitsandiego #conquer_ca #ourplanetdaily #artofvisuals #collectivelycreate #main_vision #letsgosomewhere #illgrammers #visualsofearth #playoftones #legendoftones #moodygrams #cleancaptures #thevisualscollective

Et innlegg delt av Chris // Osuna (@chrisosunaa) Nov. 4, 2016 kl. 3:59 PDT

17. Beautiful Turkish farmlands with sheep

Aybastı Perşembe Yaylas And so ends our 4 day, 500km+ road trip across Turkey with @turkishairlinesarabia My last day was for sure the highlight, as after passing out at out first stop over in Trabzon on day 1, @hello965 and I ended up checking out some local Instagram accounts, and stumbled across this place, which luckily had some GPS coordinates attached to the image. So before getting dropped off at the airport this evening and spending 7 hours on the road, we heading into the mountains and found this incredible green grass farmland landscape.

Et innlegg delt av Kyle Mijlof (@mijlof) Mai 29, 2018 kl. 11:28 PDT

18. Shark hunting in North Avoca

Cutting school. #centralcoastdrones

Et innlegg delt av Reed Plummer Images (@reedplummerimages) Nov. 22, 2018 kl. 12:15 PST

19. Feeding dromedaries in Dubai

What’s for lunch ! #mavic2pro @djiglobal

Et innlegg delt av Bachir Moukarzel (@bachir_photo_phactory) Sep. 12, 2018 kl. 4:40 PDT

20. Polar bear crossing over ice sheets

So grateful to receive the Highly Honored mention at the Nature’s Best Photography 2018 Windland Smith Rice Awards. Over 26 000 images submitted from 59 countries. 60 images were selected for the Smithsonian Exhibition in Natural the Museum of History in Washington, opening on October 29, 2018, where you will be able to see the polar bear leaping ice!⠀ I want to congratulate all the winners and participants as such as @daisygilardini,⠀ @Joshua_holko, @jasonhosking, @wim_van_den_heever, for their amazing images that make this Awards program one of the most extraordinary nature photography programs in the world. ⠀ With @naturesbestphotomagazine , the image was done thanks to @DJIglobal, @Skypixel ⠀ #Naturesbestphotography #PolarBear #Arctic #Seaice #Dji #Drone #dronestagram #dronephotography #wildlifephotography #unique #honored #gratitude #Awards #awardwinning

Et innlegg delt av Florian Ledoux (@florian_ledoux_photographer) Okt. 5, 2018 kl. 1:00 PDT

21. Breathtaking whale sharks in the Philippines

Beware! Whale sharks! #philippines #vscophilippines #vscobulgaria #longboat #whaleshark #dji #djimavicpro #djiglobal #mavicpro #fromwhereidrone #travelphotography #topdown #travel #dimitarkaranikolov #dronejunkie #dronedaily #dronephotography @djiglobal @fromwhereidrone @droneoftheday @ig.drones

Et innlegg delt av Dimitar Karanikolov (@karanikolov) Sep. 6, 2018 kl. 2:23 PDT

22. Giraffes in Namibia

2’s a crowd… 3’s a party… this here’s a Tower … of Giraffes. Excited to be back in Namibia ?? ?

Et innlegg delt av Donal James Boyd (@donalboyd) Feb. 5, 2018 kl. 9:09 PST

23. A sad one, but that’s how nature works – Wild dogs eating a zebra

Wild dogs smashing some zebbo for lunch ?

Et innlegg delt av Naude Heunis (@naudewashere) Des. 3, 2017 kl. 10:16 PST

24. Elephants in the sunset of South Luangwa National Park

Elephants enjoying the sunset. . . . . #safari #wildlifeplanet #nature #expolerafrica #wildlifephotography #africanexploring #discoverzambia #takemetoafrica #elephants #sunset #timetideafrica #capturethewild #travelafrica #africageo #discoverglobe #discoverwildlife @nature.geography @savetheelephants @discoverzambia @skypixeloffical @discoverthisearth @discoverglobe @take_me_to_africa @shotondji #zambia #skypixelofficial #capturethewild #drones #loves_africa #magic_marvels #africa #droneoftheday #dronephotography #dronenature #dronewildlife #shotondji #djiglobal #skypixal

Et innlegg delt av Bwana Jimmy Productions (@bwana_jimmy_productions) Sep. 19, 2018 kl. 4:56 PDT

25. Bathing hippos

Hi everyone! This hippo shot was recently nominated for voting by National Geographic and needs your VOTE I would greatly appreciate it ? check my stories for link. Or DM me and I’ll send it to you. Super Thank you in advance! VOTE AT: LINK IN BIO ✅ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/contests/photo-contest-2018/gallery/peoples-choice-all/4/ . . Team @choppershoot @typoland Shot on: Mavic 2 Pro . . @dronepals #dronepals #djiglobal #droneoftheday #fromwhereidrone #dronephotography #dronestagram #drone #dronelife @fromwhereidrone @droneoftheday @droneaddicts @droneheroes @dronemultimedia @droneofficial . . #safari #africa #tanzania #natgeo #iamtraveler . . #earthpix #earthfocus #travelphotography #photooftheday #illgrammers #way2ill #eclectic_shotz #gramslayers #thecreatorclass #visualambassadors #theIMAGED #thecoolhunter #lensbible #artofvisuals #bevisuallyinspired @visualambassadors @illgrammers @theimaged @agameoftones @eclectic_shotz

Et innlegg delt av ZEKEDRONE (@zekedrone) Nov. 27, 2018 kl. 8:28 PST

26. Blue whale mom and calf (and drone)

You can see our drone above a blue whale mom and calf in this image taken by a second drone flying above the first, during the Parley SnotBot expedition to Mexico. @parley.tv #drone #sUAS #whale #bluewhale #research #conservation #SnotBot #SeaofCortez #conservation #marinemammal #Mexico #calf #whalecalf #whalemomandcalf #nature

Et innlegg delt av Ocean Alliance (@oceanalliance) Mars 22, 2018 kl. 7:11 PDT

27. Wild horses on Easter Island

Wild Horses! One of my favorite parts about this island ?

Et innlegg delt av DJI (@djiglobal) Okt. 14, 2016 kl. 10:33 PDT

28. Grizzly bears

How else would you be able to get this shot? Credit: Vasiliy Rusin | #Phantom #NoFear Use #IamDJI to share your aerial creations with us!

Et innlegg delt av DJI (@djiglobal) Feb. 1, 2016 kl. 4:00 PST

29. A bearded seal in Provideniya

. Морской заяц или лахтак – один из крупнейших тюленей, живущих в Северном Ледовитом океане. Живут эти тюлени на глубине не более 100 метров. Встречается лахтак у берегов Чукотского, Берингова моря и моря Бофорта. Кроме того ареал обитания распространяется далеко на запад – это Баренцево и Белое море. Лахтак имеет волосяной покров, но он редкий. Шкура у тюленей серо-белого окраса, при этом брюхо светлее спины. На спине и по бокам имеются пятна бледно-желтого цвета. Передняя часть морды и пространство вокруг глаз желтоватого цвета. Усы у морского зайца тонкие и очень длинные. Лахтак живет летом на низких берегах. В октябре рядом с берегами появляются льды, и тюлени перебираются на них. Лахтак выбирает невысокие льдины, поскольку на них гораздо проще забираться. На льду морские зайцы лежат у самого края или недалеко от проталины, это связано с тем, что тюлени – тяжелые и неповоротливые животные, они не умеют быстро передвигаться, поэтому нуждаются в том, чтобы вода всегда находилась рядом. В этом случае тюленю приходится минимум двигаться, отдохнув, он ныряет в воду, а потом снова забирается на край льдины. Лахтак выпрыгивает из воды, делая мощный рывок. Именно поэтому этих тюленей прозвали зайцами, поскольку они высоко прыгают. • #FarEast_Russia • Location: Чукотский автономный округ, бухта Проведения • Photo by: @redgros Спасибо за фото!

Et innlegg delt av Дальний Восток (@fareast_russia) Jan. 12, 2017 kl. 8:37 PST

30. Pelicans flying under drone

The magnificent 7 #travel #fromabove #aerialphotography #aerial #flying #pelicans #birds #yourshotphotographer #animals #wildlife #nikon #nikonusa #ocean #water #natgeo #california #sanfrancisco #fly #pilot #plane #nikonnofilter

Et innlegg delt av Jassen Todorov (@jassensf) Feb. 4, 2017 kl. 12:21 PST

31. Waving whale

Just being able to see these marvelous creatures so close to where I call home blows me away every time! The majority of the time, it’s only a spout or a tail that is visible but if you’re in the right place at the right time, you might see something far more than what you could have ever expected!!

Et innlegg delt av Daniel Fowler (@downtofowler) Nov. 12, 2017 kl. 3:19 PST

32. Three lionesses looking up at the drone

Three lionesses rest after a full course meal ? one looks up for some dessert? . . working with team @choppershoot @typoland . . . #dronepals #djiglobal #droneoftheday #djicreator #fromwhereidrone #dronephotography #dronestagram #drone #dronelife @fromwhereidrone @droneoftheday @droneaddicts @droneheroes @dronemultimedia @droneofficial @dronepals . . #safari #africa #tanzania #natgeo #iamtraveler @wildviewing @natgeo @natgeotravel @nature . . #earthpix #earthfocus #travelphotography #photooftheday #gramslayers #thecreatorclass #visualambassadors #theIMAGED #thecoolhunter #lensbible #artofvisuals #bevisuallyinspired @visualambassadors @illgrammers @theimaged @agameoftones @eclectic_shotz

Et innlegg delt av ZEKEDRONE (@zekedrone) Okt. 30, 2018 kl. 9:33 PDT

33. Birds on the beach

Just some birds chilling on the beach… what are you doing right now? I’m just sitting on the couch rewatching the stranger things

Et innlegg delt av Peter Yan (@yantastic) Nov. 22, 2017 kl. 2:00 PST

34. Camel in the middle of a roundabout in Dubai

I can’t quite believe that there are 300,000 of you following my journey. I hope to have brought you many laughs along the way, and cannot thank you enough for all the support. Air hugs and kisses to you all. It’s now time for a beer (or two!) ?

Et innlegg delt av Jordan Hammond (@jordhammond) Juli 24, 2018 kl. 6:43 PDT

35. Swimming turtle

??

Et innlegg delt av @saltywings (@micgoetze) Mars 28, 2016 kl. 2:10 PDT

36. Three stingrays

Believe it or not this was a drone photo and I flew verrrrrry close to the water! Pt. 3 of stingrays – Phantom 4 Pro x @polarpro – – – – – #Fromwhereidrone #polarpro #goworx #visualambassadors #auroracolor #thelensbible #droneofficial #drones #droneoftheday #instadrone #photooftheday #dronephoto #dronefly #dronepics #dronelifestyle #dronelife #dji #teampolarpro #flywithpolarpro #captureperfection #aerialphotography #uav #iamdji #mavicpro #beautifuldestinations #ig_today #theimaged #heatercentral #visualsoflife #ig_color

Et innlegg delt av Pierce Gainey-Drone Dude (@piercegainey) Juni 12, 2017 kl. 11:15 PDT

37. Elephants in Samara Private Game Reserve

Just got back from some much needed time in the Bush with @livetheadventure. Found these mountain elephants on a sunrise game drive. Thanks so much to @samara_karoo for sharing your little piece of paradise in the Eastern Cape with us. I will be back very soon.

Et innlegg delt av Kyle Mijlof (@mijlof) Mars 11, 2018 kl. 10:12 PDT

38. 600 reindeer

It may look like ants but it’s actually a herd of 600 reindeer in the Russian wilderness of Kamchatka. They eat the shrubs and plants beneath the snowy tundra, moving very little each day, tended to by the nomadic Even people of Kamchatka.

Et innlegg delt av Karim Iliya Photography. Drone (@karimiliya) April 2, 2016 kl. 2:21 PDT

39. Beautiful shot with birds

Morning strolls along Roebuck Bay ?

Et innlegg delt av Kyle Bowman (@airloft) Okt. 23, 2018 kl. 3:11 PDT

40. A lot of goats

“When I first launched my drone to capture this image of goats, they formed a unique circular pat-tern which looked fantastic, and made my image all the more fascinating!” Credit: Dmitry Balakirev (@balakirev) with a #DJI #inspire1. Join the #SkyPixel contest today. Win prizes like the #Zeiss #VROne, @lowepro_official and much more! https://www.skypixel.com/events/photocontest

Et innlegg delt av DJI (@djiglobal) Nov. 29, 2015 kl. 11:01 PST

Also, check out this fantastic Instagram account with micro flight photography from South Luangwa National Park. Since these cool pictures were not shot from a drone I couldn’t include them in this article.

Did you like the list? Comment below. And please share if you find it worth to share. 🙂 Thanks

The featured image on top is from Pexels.