A pilot initiative by Karnataka last month of having boxes of beehives in fences where there were high elephant trespassing instances proved to be highly effective in terms of frightening elephants and making them run away. This was launched under Project RE-HAB, which is expanded as Reducing Elephant – Human Attacks using Bees. This had cost ₹15 lakhs.
Following the success of this initiative, Karnataka’s forest officials (KVIC) had informed Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who had appreciated their efforts and pushed for the implementation of this project in other states as well.
“It has provided relief to farmers and is saving crops and precious lives. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are major elephant–human conflict zones where KVIC is planning to implement Project RE-HAB in a phased manner,” he tweeted with a video of the initiative.
Congratulating @kvicindia for implementing innovative solution to reduce elephant-human interaction with Project RE-HAB.
The bees irritate the elephant and deter them. By putting up bee boxes on the periphery of forests, they have reduced elephant movement in human territory. pic.twitter.com/DaiMK1gSFU
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) April 8, 2021
Speaking about the success of this program, Banglu Venugopal, KVIC Nodal Officer in Madikeri, told Indianexpress.com that, “Farmers in the area were not aware that such a technique would work well initially. However, with the sudden dip in the frequency of elephants entering the area, this initiative has become the talk of the town. We are ready to share the science behind this with more people to help them develop this on their own as well.”
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.