Researchers discover unlikely method for reducing human-elephant conflicts: 'We have to find socially appropriate … solutions'

You wouldn't imagine that elephants would be scared of much, considering their size, but it seems they are terrified of bees. Now, this fear is being used to thwart human-elephant conflict, helping to save the lives of elephants while also protecting people, crops, and the environment.

Human-elephant conflicts have increased in recent years as human populations encroach on the territories where elephants live, and an overheating planet reduces resources elephants need to survive and forces them to find new habitats closer to humans.

Most often, when human-elephant conflicts occur, it's because an elephant has raided people's crops. Due to their size, crop-raiding elephants may also inadvertently destroy property, so people sometimes kill the elephants to protect themselves and their food.

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It's a significant problem, but a simple solution involving bees may help keep elephants and humans safe.

Lucy King, leader of the Elephants and Bees Project and head of the Save the Elephants human-elephant coexistence program, did research into the phenomenon of elephants being scared of bees in 2007 and created a design for beehive fences to be placed around homes or villages that have interactions with elephants.

Now, a nine-year study led by experts, including King, from the University of Oxford, Save the Elephants, Kenya Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute found elephants in Kenya avoided these beehive fences approximately 86% of the time.

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According to Euronews, King stated, "We have to find socially appropriate farmer-managed solutions for the scale of the human-wildlife coexistence issues that are increasing across Africa."

The excellent results of using these beehive fences are numerous and include less food insecurity for humans, more elephant lives saved, extra income for farmers who can sell the honey from the hives, the protection of bees, and the creation of vital pollination that helps balance delicate ecosystems. Areas using beehive fences also provide women with more opportunities to work, which has led to less gender-based violence.

However, this solution may not be a permanent one, as changes to the climate continue to disrupt weather patterns and bring instances of drought and more. King also pointed out in the study that "results also warn that increased habitat disturbance or more frequent droughts could reduce the effectiveness of this nature-based coexistence method."