HEFEI, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The administrators of the Yellow Mountain scenic area in east China, known for its beautiful pines of various shapes, have started to use drones to discover dead trees.

On May 23, the first drone took off and monitored an area in the northeastern part of the mountain. It took clear pictures, offering important material for evaluating the health of the pines.

Officials with the administrative committee of the scenic area said pine wilt disease is a severe epidemic disease affecting the trees. It causes their needles to wither away quickly and eventually die.

The project aims to cover 150,000 mu (10,000 hectares) of the mountain with drone monitoring, or about 62.3 percent of the total scenic area. The using of the drones can help people get a clearer view of the pines and accurately locate the pines in question.

No pines in the area have currently been found to have the wilt disease.