The reaction of African elephants towards African honeybees in northern Botswana

There is compelling evidence to suggest that areas of outstanding conservation value, which often coincide with expanding human populations, are at risk (Balmford et al. 2001). The African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) is the world’s largest generalist herbivore and, due to its large size, requires a substantial amount of space and resources (Dublin et al. 1990; van Aarde et al. 2006). Consequently, mitigating human-elephant conflict (HEC) has become a focal topic in elephant conservation and research (Karidozo and Osborn 2005). Many countries in southern Africa that still have substantial elephant populations face the challenge of managing these populations. At the same time, biodiversity has declined in protected areas (PAs) while reducing the impacts on humans (Balmford et al. 2001). Encounters between elephants and people (/communities) often result in negative interactions, which pose serious social, political and conservation conflicts (King et al. 2009). Botswana holds the largest elephant concentration on the African continent with approximately 130,000 individuals (Bussière and Potgieter 2023). Botswana’s need for effective deterrents is vital in managing and maintaining its current elephant population. A wide range of mitigation methods have been trialled and used in high HEC areas across African elephant range States. These include the use of chillies, explosive devices, lights, organic repellent, trenches, and electric fences (Sitati et al. 2003; Osborn and Parker 2003; Graham and Ochieng 2008; Davies et al. 2011; Oniba and Robertson 2019; Adams et al. 2021; King et al. 2023). Davies et al. (2011) outlined the importance of first evaluating deterrent methods to determine their effectiveness, before wide-range deployment. Each deterrent method has varying degrees of success, which are dependent on the local elephant population, the location, deployment of the deterrent, and the community buy-in both economically and socially (Osborn and Parker 2003; Davies et al. 2011). The use of African honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata) and beehive fences is one of the most novel deterrent innovations. The development in Kenya from 2007 has been a success, as evidenced in studies there (King et al. 2009; 2017; 2024), where it was observed that elephants exhibit avoidance behaviour when exposed to acoustic playbacks of African honeybees (King et al. 2007). Beehives are interlinked and hang between posts to function as a fence-like barrier between crops and elephants (King et al. 2017). They have shown positive deterrent results during field trials elsewhere, including Mozambique (Branco et al. 2019), and Tanzania (Scheijen et al. 2019). However, some field studies using bees have shown limited results (Kazidozo and Osborn 2005), possibly due to challenges with bee activity (Ngama et al. 2016) or occupation rates (Kiffner et al. 2021). Hence, it is essential to assess the validity of the deterrent under local conditions before implementation in the Chobe area of Botswana. Currently, it is unknown 192 Pachyderm No. 66 October 2024—September 2025 Adams et al. how Botswana’s elephant populations respond to the sound of African honeybees. This study aimed to assess the behavioural reactions of elephants in northern Botswana to audio recordings of disturbed African honeybees. By determining how different elephant populations will respond to the sound of bees, we can assist in determining the relative success of beehive fences in relieving and reducing HEC in the country.