Kenyan elephants avoid ‘beehive fencing’ – a simple structure where beehives are placed between posts – up to 86% of the time, according to a nine-year study.
Inside increasingly serious conflict Researchers have discovered an incredible peacemaker between humans and elephants: bees. Kenyan elephants avoid ‘beehive fences’, a simple structure they are housed in, according to a nine-year study hives between postsUp to 86%.
This includes peak harvest season when they often ‘raid’ small farms. fresh produce festival and encountering unsuspecting and sometimes hostile people. In societies where populations continue to grow, these findings may offer a powerful nature-based solution to protect both livelihoods and wildlife habitats.
Habitat loss and human encroachment pose growing dangers
The study, conducted by experts from Save the Elephants, the Wildlife Research and Education Institute, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the University of Oxford, addresses a pressing issue for many nations around the world. So-called ‘gentle giants’ wander around.
From Africa to India to Southeast Asia, dramatic population increases have reduced elephants’ habitat and brought them into close contact with humans.
Since 2020, Kenya’s population has doubled. This figure is expected to increase by 51% by 2050 and increase from the current 55.3 million to over 83.5 millionAccording to the World Health Organization.
At the same time, incidents involving elephants became more frequent, resulting in permanent conflict in which both sides lost. farmers they risk their crops and safetyElephants face injury and sometimes even death.
Nearly 200 people died in human-elephant conflict between 2010 and 2017, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and officials who now manage Kenya’s so-called wildlife They kill between 50 and 120 elephants Because of attacks on people every year.
Why do bees scare elephants?
In 2002, Save the Elephants founding members Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Fritz Vollrath published their first research paper on the deterrent effect of bees’ buzzing against elephants. They discovered elephants They run away from the sound of bees. Many also shake their heads, raise dust, and make loud noises to warn others.
Accordingly Lucy Kinghead of the human-elephant coexistence program at Save the Elephants and responsible for the ‘Elephants and Bees’ project.
Elephants have thick skin, but when bees are threatened They can attack them and cause injuries to the eyes, mouth and trunk.. Over thousands of years, pachyderms developed an innate fear of these tiny creatures.
Since then, Save the Elephants has been using bees to capitalize on this evolutionary fear and deter them from dying. raid farmsAn event that usually occurs at night and surprises local people. The group currently has 14,000 hives at 97 locations in Africa and Asia.
To conduct their study, they monitored and virtually analyzed 26 farms where animals roamed freely in two villages near Tsavo Oriental National Park in Kenya. 4,000 elephants approaching Between 2014 and 2020, including six peak growth seasons. In 86% of cases, the persistent hum of the ‘beehive fences’ during peak seasons deterred elephants from going further.
Climate change could threaten nature-based solutions like ‘beehive fences’
Thanks to their low cost and easy maintenance, beehive enclosures can be an ideal solution. farmers can manage without outside help. “We need to find socially viable, farmer-led solutions to the growing human-wildlife coexistence problems in Africa,” says King.
“The more we prepare farmers with the right tools to manage and maintain themselves, the more responsibility we all have to take. care for the wild animals on our planetand not just those responsible for wildlife”.
To encourage widespread adoption of ‘beehive fencing’, Save the Elephants has made all construction guides and videos available to the public. “As a result, we know that across 23 elephant range countries: Bee fences are being tested in more than 100 locations“adds King.
ADVERTThese projects also promise benefits to the environment as well as providing an additional source of income. King notes that the use of wild African honeybees creates “important pollination services.” long range effectfar beyond the need to deter elephants.
“Honey bees are so threatened today by pesticides, pollution, habitat destruction and variable weather patterns. We may not realize the impact this is having on our food production until it’s too late,” he explains. The hives used in the research also produced a ton of honey. It sold for $2,250. (approximately 2,100 Euros).
If it wasn’t for the drought in 2017, it could have been a higher amount. reduced hive population by 75%. According to the researchers, as the buzz decreased, the elephants became more brazen. With climate change altering weather patterns around the world, it’s possible this could happen. pioneer project You lose some of your power.
“Beehive fencing is very effective at reducing elephant raids when crops are at their peak,” King said in a press release accompanying the study’s publication. “Our results also warn of greater habitat degradation or more frequent droughts this may reduce the effectiveness of the coexistence method based on nature,” he says.
ADVERT
