Cheltenham Science Festival: Living With Elephants
Last week was Science Festival week over in Cheltenham. The event just so happened to coincide with the very end of my year spent living and studying in the town, and so I was determined to cram in as many related talks and events as I could before moving day came round. The first person I went to see was presenter and wildlife biologist Lizzie Daly, her subject: the ongoing conflict between farmers and elephants in Kenya. One of the most common and widespread causes of friction between humans and other animals is almost certainly the competition for food, and in Laikipia - home to a huge population of elephants as well as hundreds of subsistence farmers - this is an enormous and extremely costly issue. Earlier in the year Lizzie, in the name of scientific research, spent some time in the county in the hope of gaining a better understanding of the situation...
In the Western world, we're quick to dismiss those with a negative view of elephants, a species whose numbers have fallen dramatically in recent decades, leaving them classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. But spending time on the ground in Laikipia, Lizzie explained, really gave her a chance to connect with the locals whose livelihoods are under threat, and to understand the story from their point of view. Doing so painted the picture of a much more complex issue than might previously have been imagined, the solutions which are far from clear cut.
Laikipia, along with the rest of Kenya, is littered with conservancies; protected areas that act to safeguard native flora and fauna. These provide a vital habitat for the county's 6,300-strong African elephant population.
The subsistence farmland that covers much of the country, enveloping these conservancies, is near irresistible to a hungry elephant. Of course, being caught while engaged in a feeding frenzy would most likely put the perpetrator in grave danger. But elephants are intelligent beasts, and over time they've figured out the perfect way of reducing their risk of death or injury, while still benefitting from the local bounty: they have learned to make their forays at night. Studies that have looked at the movement of tagged animals have revealed how groups which typically remain in the confines of their conserve during the day, overflow into the surrounding agricultural land immediately after sundown. This change of behaviour as a result of human-induced pressures isn’t limited to elephant kind, but can be seen across the animal kingdom.
Farmers living and working in the county have been forced to come up with some innovative methods to try and deter the pilfering giants: some have even taken to smearing their fences with chilli paste. More high-tech solutions include the installation of electric fencing (one very controversial move which works alongside this is the modification of the animals’ tusks: grooves are cut into their surface, and these are then lined with highly conductive wire).
A couple of years ago I went along to an animal behaviour talk delivered by Oxford zoologist Professor Tristram Wyatt, and it was there that I was first introduced to the use of bees as a natural elephant deterrent in certain parts of Africa. In most cases, this method involves suspending beehives between wooden posts in such a way that an elephant trying to encroach on the land beyond would disturb the colonies inside, prompting the delivery of a number of nasty stings. Even the sound of aggravated honeybees tends to be enough to send elephants on their way, meaning any crops that lie behind the 'fence' escape unscathed.
Elephants have a very unique way of communicating with one another: individuals produce low frequency (infrasonic) rumbles which can travel travel huge distances - up to 285 square kilometres, in fact - to their neighbours. An enormous range of different rumbles is used, each kind sending out a particular message, and it is this communication technique that has been used to prove the viability of honeybee fences within specific locations. Scientists have observed that upon hearing a recording of irritated bees, some elephants produce warning signals which not only spread rapidly throughout their own herd, but also reach members of other herds nearby. The result is almost always an active avoidance of the perceived threat.
As you may have noticed, I explained how this response can be seen in some elephants. While the technique has been successfully implemented in many places, in certain areas of the continent it fails to have such a positive effect. In Laikipia, many elephants react to threats with displays of aggression, and these pose an enormous risk to any person who happens to be nearby. Similar behaviour has been observed in response to even the less drastic means of deterrence - many farmers and members of their families, perhaps whilst patrolling their plots at night, banging pots and pans; or manning watchtowers, have been killed by distressed animals.
As the bearers of so much disruption and destruction, it isn't too surprising that many locals just want the animals gone, and spare little thought for wider conservation efforts. Some of you may have come across the image above, which shows a trio of elephants being held hostage in one of the county's dams. Angry villagers chased the animals into the body of water after they destroyed a large maize crop, setting fire to waterside vegetation to prevent their escape. Take a closer look at some of the other photographs taken on that day, and you might just be able to make out some of the wounds that were inflicted by thrown stones and spears.
The common feeling of wanting to seek revenge on these 'trespassers' is common, and we can see this sort of response in the photographs above: it's quite clear that the villagers want the elephants dead. There are, of course, individuals who do enjoy seeing the animals, and who are actively involved in local conservation efforts. The Kenya Wildlife Service works across the country to conserve and manage the country's wildlife, and it was this group that was responsible for ushering these particular elephants to safety.
One of the major projects currently being trialled by the KWS involves psychically moving individual elephants from one place to another. The method has, unsurprisingly, been met with a fair amount of controversy, and its level of effectiveness remains unclear. Lizzie joined one member of the Service as he assisted one such translocation: she watched as a huge male was tranquillised; hoisted aboard a vehicle by its ankles; fitted with a radio collar (data collected will go towards research and helping to improve future conservation efforts); and transported miles across the county to a new location.
What would the ideal solution to the issue of elephant crop-raiding in Kenya be? It's a question that lacks a definitive answer, the situation being as complex as it it. New methods of protecting farmers and their land are in constant development, and conservation organisations continue to work closely with governments and communities wherever possible. Meanwhile, African elephant numbers remain in decline in the face of illegal poaching and habitat loss. For now at least, it seems both species' individual struggles for survival are set to continue.
In the Western world, we're quick to dismiss those with a negative view of elephants, a species whose numbers have fallen dramatically in recent decades, leaving them classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. But spending time on the ground in Laikipia, Lizzie explained, really gave her a chance to connect with the locals whose livelihoods are under threat, and to understand the story from their point of view. Doing so painted the picture of a much more complex issue than might previously have been imagined, the solutions which are far from clear cut.
Laikipia, along with the rest of Kenya, is littered with conservancies; protected areas that act to safeguard native flora and fauna. These provide a vital habitat for the county's 6,300-strong African elephant population.
The subsistence farmland that covers much of the country, enveloping these conservancies, is near irresistible to a hungry elephant. Of course, being caught while engaged in a feeding frenzy would most likely put the perpetrator in grave danger. But elephants are intelligent beasts, and over time they've figured out the perfect way of reducing their risk of death or injury, while still benefitting from the local bounty: they have learned to make their forays at night. Studies that have looked at the movement of tagged animals have revealed how groups which typically remain in the confines of their conserve during the day, overflow into the surrounding agricultural land immediately after sundown. This change of behaviour as a result of human-induced pressures isn’t limited to elephant kind, but can be seen across the animal kingdom.
Farmers living and working in the county have been forced to come up with some innovative methods to try and deter the pilfering giants: some have even taken to smearing their fences with chilli paste. More high-tech solutions include the installation of electric fencing (one very controversial move which works alongside this is the modification of the animals’ tusks: grooves are cut into their surface, and these are then lined with highly conductive wire).
A couple of years ago I went along to an animal behaviour talk delivered by Oxford zoologist Professor Tristram Wyatt, and it was there that I was first introduced to the use of bees as a natural elephant deterrent in certain parts of Africa. In most cases, this method involves suspending beehives between wooden posts in such a way that an elephant trying to encroach on the land beyond would disturb the colonies inside, prompting the delivery of a number of nasty stings. Even the sound of aggravated honeybees tends to be enough to send elephants on their way, meaning any crops that lie behind the 'fence' escape unscathed.
Elephants have a very unique way of communicating with one another: individuals produce low frequency (infrasonic) rumbles which can travel travel huge distances - up to 285 square kilometres, in fact - to their neighbours. An enormous range of different rumbles is used, each kind sending out a particular message, and it is this communication technique that has been used to prove the viability of honeybee fences within specific locations. Scientists have observed that upon hearing a recording of irritated bees, some elephants produce warning signals which not only spread rapidly throughout their own herd, but also reach members of other herds nearby. The result is almost always an active avoidance of the perceived threat.
As you may have noticed, I explained how this response can be seen in some elephants. While the technique has been successfully implemented in many places, in certain areas of the continent it fails to have such a positive effect. In Laikipia, many elephants react to threats with displays of aggression, and these pose an enormous risk to any person who happens to be nearby. Similar behaviour has been observed in response to even the less drastic means of deterrence - many farmers and members of their families, perhaps whilst patrolling their plots at night, banging pots and pans; or manning watchtowers, have been killed by distressed animals.
As the bearers of so much disruption and destruction, it isn't too surprising that many locals just want the animals gone, and spare little thought for wider conservation efforts. Some of you may have come across the image above, which shows a trio of elephants being held hostage in one of the county's dams. Angry villagers chased the animals into the body of water after they destroyed a large maize crop, setting fire to waterside vegetation to prevent their escape. Take a closer look at some of the other photographs taken on that day, and you might just be able to make out some of the wounds that were inflicted by thrown stones and spears.
The common feeling of wanting to seek revenge on these 'trespassers' is common, and we can see this sort of response in the photographs above: it's quite clear that the villagers want the elephants dead. There are, of course, individuals who do enjoy seeing the animals, and who are actively involved in local conservation efforts. The Kenya Wildlife Service works across the country to conserve and manage the country's wildlife, and it was this group that was responsible for ushering these particular elephants to safety.
One of the major projects currently being trialled by the KWS involves psychically moving individual elephants from one place to another. The method has, unsurprisingly, been met with a fair amount of controversy, and its level of effectiveness remains unclear. Lizzie joined one member of the Service as he assisted one such translocation: she watched as a huge male was tranquillised; hoisted aboard a vehicle by its ankles; fitted with a radio collar (data collected will go towards research and helping to improve future conservation efforts); and transported miles across the county to a new location.
What would the ideal solution to the issue of elephant crop-raiding in Kenya be? It's a question that lacks a definitive answer, the situation being as complex as it it. New methods of protecting farmers and their land are in constant development, and conservation organisations continue to work closely with governments and communities wherever possible. Meanwhile, African elephant numbers remain in decline in the face of illegal poaching and habitat loss. For now at least, it seems both species' individual struggles for survival are set to continue.
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