Beehive Fences As Effective Deterrents For Crop-raiding Elephants: Field Trials In Nothern Kenya (2011)

Increasing elephant populations in Kenya since 1989 have been widely praised as a conservation success story. However, where elephants and agricultural land overlap, incidents of human-elephant conflict are on the increase. Wildlife managers and farmers are now trying different farm-based deterrents to keep elephants out of crops. Here, we present data on the effectiveness of a novel beehive fence deployed in a Turkana community of 62 communally run farms in Kenya. Specifically, 1700m of beehive fences semi-sorrounded the outer boundaries of seventeen farms, and we compared elephant farm invasion events with these and to seventeen neighboring farms whose boundaries were 'protected' only by thorn bush barriers. We present data from 45 farm invasions, or attempted invasions, recorded over 2 years. Thirteen groups of elephants approached beehive fences and turned away.