The bee’s knees: honey fences working to reduce human-elephant conflict

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, zoologist Dr Lucy King and British Airways are working together to establish ‘beehive fences’ to reduce costly (and sometimes deadly) human-elephant conflict in Kenya.

Given the average elephant consumes up to 400kg of vegetation a day, their impact on local farms can be devastating. Electric or other fencing can work, but they are not an ideal solution as they are expensive, cut wildlife corridors, damage ecosystems and result in over-grazing. Bees, however, are relatively easy to keep, don’t disrupt migration of wildlife, provide farmers with an additional source of income, and – crucially – elephants dislike them. Initial studies indicate that the fences are at least 80% effective. Read more: news24.com