http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... hant-raids
CHANTHABURI - To stop wild elephants rampaging through their crops, farmers often put up electric fences, set off firecrackers and even switch crops, from pineapples to pumpkins, which the jumbos don't like much.
Trouble is, nothing much deters them. So, try Plan Bee.
In a pilot scheme run by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, farmers are deploying bees as a new line of defence, exploiting elephants' documented fear of bee stings. The idea to play on the phobia came out of Oxford University research and has been used successfully for several years in Africa. It is now gaining a toehold in Asia.
The problem is quite severe in the eastern province of Chanthaburi, which has thick forests near farming communities that grow rice, cassava, pineapple and rubber.
"In the last two years, elephants have come out and destroyed farmers' crops almost every day,'' said Prasit Sae-Lee, head of tambon Phawa in Kaeng Hang Maew district.
Elephants travel in a herd, a big herd, razing everything to the ground everywhere they go. The ground is flattened so much so that a 10-wheel truck can drive through after they had gone.''
Government officials suggested farmers stop growing the pineapples that elephants love. "The latest suggestion was for us to grow pumpkins. But that didn't solve anything. They destroyed the pumpkins, pulled them up by the roots, stepped on them and even ate them,'' Mr Prasit said.
Help for the residents of the remote Phawa village came from a government wildlife research station, which is
helping them raise bees. It is a simple technique. Traditionally beehives are placed on the ground, but here researchers raise them on stilts, putting them at eye level for the elephants. The string of beehive boxes are connected with a rope, creating a fence.
When the elephants try to enter, they push at the ropes and that shakes the beehives, causing the bees to swarm out in a fearsome cloud of buzz and venomous sting that the animals are unlikely to forget.
"At first I thought it would not work. Even the forestry officials did not think it would work,'' said Boonchu Sirimaha, 66, whose family were the first in the village to participate in the research project. "But after we put the beehives up (two months ago), it worked. The elephants were stung by the bees and they have not been back since.''
"The elephants come out at night. They come all the way up to the house,'' said Ms Dararath, 36, recalling the horrors of the past. "They've banged against our door and windows. They've tipped over parked motorcycles, pulled down tarpaulins and knocked over our washing machine.''
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I guess they really don't like pumpkins!
"They've banged against our door and windows. They've tipped over parked motorcycles, pulled down tarpaulins and knocked over our washing machine.''
They destroyed the pumpkins, pulled them up by the roots, stepped on them and even ate them,'' Mr Prasit said.
