King Lucy E, Lala Fredrick, Nzumu Hesron, Mwambingu Emmanuel, Douglas-Hamilton Iain
Save the Elephants, P.O. Box 54667, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, U.K.
Conserv Biol. 2017 Aug;31(4):743-752. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12898. Epub 2017 Feb 21.
Increasing habitat fragmentation and human population growth in Africa has resulted in an escalation in human-elephant conflict between small-scale farmers and free-ranging African elephants (Loxodonta Africana). In 2012 Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) implemented the national 10-year Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya, which includes an action aimed at testing whether beehive fences can be used to mitigate human-elephant conflict. From 2012 to 2015, we field-tested the efficacy of beehive fences to protect 10 0.4-ha farms next to Tsavo East National Park from elephants. We hung a series of beehives every 10 m around the boundary of each farm plot. The hives were linked with strong wire. After an initial pilot test with 2 farms, the remaining 8 of 10 beehive fences also contained 2-dimensional dummy hives between real beehives to help reduce the cost of the fence. Each trial plot had a neighboring control plot of the same size within the same farm. Of the 131 beehives deployed 88% were occupied at least once during the 3.5-year trial. Two hundred and fifty-three elephants, predominantly 20-45 years old entered the community farming area, typically during the crop- ripening season. Eighty percent of the elephants that approached the trial farms were kept out of the areas protected by the beehive fences, and elephants that broke a fence were in smaller than average groups. Beehive fences not only kept large groups of elephants from invading the farmland plots but the farmers also benefited socially and financially from the sale of 228 kg of elephant-friendly honey. As news of the success of the trial spread, a further 12 farmers requested to join the project, bringing the number of beehive fence protected farms to 22 and beehives to 297. This demonstrates positive adoption of beehive fences as a community mitigation tool. Understanding the response of elephants to the beehive fences, the seasonality of crop raiding and fence breaking, and the willingness of the community to engage with the mitigation method will help contribute to future management strategies for this high human-elephant conflict hotspot and other similar areas in Kenya.
非洲栖息地破碎化加剧以及人口增长，导致小规模农户与自由放养的非洲象（非洲草原象）之间的人象冲突不断升级。2012年，肯尼亚野生动物管理局（KWS）实施了肯尼亚大象十年保护与管理战略，其中包括一项旨在测试蜂巢围栏能否用于缓解人象冲突的行动。2012年至2015年期间，我们对蜂巢围栏保护察沃东国家公园附近10个0.4公顷农场免受大象侵扰的效果进行了实地测试。我们在每个农田地块边界每隔10米悬挂一系列蜂巢。蜂巢用结实的铁丝连接起来。在对2个农场进行初步试点测试后，10个蜂巢围栏中的另外8个在实际蜂巢之间还设置了二维假蜂巢，以帮助降低围栏成本。每个试验区在同一个农场内都有一个面积相同的相邻对照区。在为期3.5年的试验中，所部署的131个蜂巢中有88%至少有一次被占用。253头大象（主要是20至45岁的大象）进入了社区农田区，通常是在作物成熟季节。接近试验区农场的大象中，80%被蜂巢围栏保护区域阻挡在外，冲破围栏的大象群体规模小于平均水平。蜂巢围栏不仅阻止了大批大象侵入农田地块，农民还通过出售228公斤对大象无害的蜂蜜获得了社会和经济收益。随着试验成功的消息传开，又有12位农民请求加入该项目，使蜂巢围栏保护的农场数量增加到22个，蜂巢数量增加到297个。这表明蜂巢围栏作为一种社区缓解冲突工具得到了积极采用。了解大象对蜂巢围栏的反应、作物掠夺和围栏破坏的季节性以及社区采用这种缓解方法的意愿，将有助于为肯尼亚这个高风险人象冲突热点地区以及其他类似地区制定未来的管理策略。
