Save the Elephants, Nairobi, Kenya; University of Oxford, Department of Zoology, Oxford, UK.
Cornell University, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Ithaca, NY, USA; Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Curr Biol. 2018 Jan 22;28(2):R64-R65. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.018.
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are threatened primarily by habitat loss and human-elephant conflict. In addition to establishing protected areas and corridors for wildlife, empowering farmers to protect their crops is crucial for Asian elephant conservation [1,2]. Elephants can habituate to artificial deterrents, hence natural biological alternatives are of great interest [2,3]. African elephants (Loxodonta africana) avoid African honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata), inspiring 'beehive fences' as a successful means of small-scale crop protection [4,5]. Here, we used a recording of a disturbed hive of cavity-dwelling Asian honey bees (Apis cerana indica) and conducted sound playbacks to 120 wild elephants in 28 different groups resting under trees in Uda Walawe National Park in Sri Lanka. Elephants responded by moving significantly further away from their resting site in bee playback trials compared to controls. Elephants also increased vocalization rates, as well as investigative and reassurance behaviours in response to bee sounds, but did not display dusting or headshaking behaviour.
亚洲象（Elephas maximus）主要受到栖息地丧失和人与象冲突的威胁。除了建立野生动物保护区和走廊外，赋予农民保护作物的能力对于亚洲象的保护至关重要[1,2]。大象可以习惯人为的威慑物，因此天然的生物替代品非常令人感兴趣[2,3]。非洲象（Loxodonta africana）会避开非洲蜜蜂（Apis mellifera scutellata），这启发了“蜂巢围栏”作为小规模作物保护的成功手段[4,5]。在这里，我们使用了一个受到干扰的洞穴栖息亚洲蜜蜂（Apis cerana indica）蜂巢的录音，并在斯里兰卡乌达瓦拉维国家公园的 28 个不同休息的大象群体中进行了声音回放。与对照组相比，在蜜蜂播放试验中，大象会显著地从它们的休息地点移得更远。大象还会增加发声率，以及对蜜蜂声音的调查和安抚行为，但不会显示尘土飞扬或摇头的行为。
