Looking at the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), you wouldn’t imagine that much could intimidate such an almighty and awe-inspiring creature. But a few years ago, researchers discovered that one of the best ways to get elephants to scarper was to play a recording of the intense buzzing of an angry swarm of bees - what would seem to be small bother for the elephants with their tough skin, but in fact can do damage with their nasty stings in soft areas such as around the eyes, behind the ears and inside the trunk. Nearly 50% of family herds tested left within 10 seconds; all but one of the rest deserted the area in less than a minute and a half. African elephants even have a distinctive rumbling alarm call for the presence of bees. Being notoriously destructive invaders of farm land, the elephants’ fear is now being used against them in order to encourage harmonious living alongside humans. 1700m of “beehive fences” (lines of hives spaced 10m apart) have been constructed around the perimeter of farms in northern Kenya. They have proved an undoubted success, with only one bull passing through a fence of this type in the past two years, compared with 31 elephants having broken through traditional thorn fences.Ref: Morell (2011) ScienceShot: ‘Beehive Fences’ Keep Elephants Out. Science online news [link] 

Looking at the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), you wouldn’t imagine that much could intimidate such an almighty and awe-inspiring creature. But a few years ago, researchers discovered that one of the best ways to get elephants to scarper was to play a recording of the intense buzzing of an angry swarm of bees - what would seem to be small bother for the elephants with their tough skin, but in fact can do damage with their nasty stings in soft areas such as around the eyes, behind the ears and inside the trunk. Nearly 50% of family herds tested left within 10 seconds; all but one of the rest deserted the area in less than a minute and a half. African elephants even have a distinctive rumbling alarm call for the presence of bees. Being notoriously destructive invaders of farm land, the elephants’ fear is now being used against them in order to encourage harmonious living alongside humans. 1700m of “beehive fences” (lines of hives spaced 10m apart) have been constructed around the perimeter of farms in northern Kenya. They have proved an undoubted success, with only one bull passing through a fence of this type in the past two years, compared with 31 elephants having broken through traditional thorn fences.

Ref: Morell (2011) ScienceShot: ‘Beehive Fences’ Keep Elephants Out. Science online news [link] 

Source: Flickr / arnolouise

  1. alive-wild-and-free reblogged this from zoo-logic
  2. marianaismyname reblogged this from zoo-logic
  3. heldanana reblogged this from mentalfornication
  4. amandabug reblogged this from zoo-logic
  5. angelintheasylum reblogged this from cog-nito
  6. foookingloveyah reblogged this from mentalfornication
  7. mentalfornication reblogged this from cog-nito
  8. cog-nito reblogged this from zoo-logic
  9. loveandhopeee reblogged this from zoo-logic
  10. nondesperatio reblogged this from zoo-logic
  11. aelita10 reblogged this from zoo-logic
  12. meforwhoiam reblogged this from zoo-logic
  13. arielyxd reblogged this from zoo-logic
  14. keepcalm-and-kirion reblogged this from zoo-logic
  15. mediagris reblogged this from zoo-logic
  16. lenswhore reblogged this from animalworld
  17. yesiamandnoyoucannotwatch reblogged this from animalworld
  18. zevaztian reblogged this from animalworld and added:
    Hermoso elefante!!!
  19. moontiger5 reblogged this from animalworld
  20. gimcrack-and-bunkum reblogged this from thats-some-bad-hat-harry
  21. imgettingdizzyjustenjoytheparty reblogged this from animalworld
  22. salemdaisy02 reblogged this from animalworld
  23. thats-some-bad-hat-harry reblogged this from animalworld
  24. mechazawabeepboop reblogged this from animalworld