New Delhi: Project RE-HAB, which uses honey bees as fences to keep elephants away, has successfully helped reduce conflict between humans and the animal without causing any harm, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) said on Saturday. The KVIC announced the success of the project, which was launched on March 15, that it will be repeated in states that report elephant attacks on human inhabitants.
‘At a time when state governments are spending rupees on digging trenches and creating other physical barriers to prevent elephant attacks, KVIC’s innovative project RE-HAB (reducing human – elephant attacks using bees) has emerged’ an extremely cost-effective and harmless way to reduce human-elephant conflict, ”the commission said in a statement.
The chairman, Vinai Kumar Saxena, said that trenches, railway fences, nail pillars, electric fences and electric wire curtains were not only effective, but that it also killed elephants in the most tragic ways. “Project RE-HAB, on the other hand, is cost-effective and does not cause any damage to the elephants. It will also have multiple benefits. “It will reduce conflict between humans and elephants, increase farmers’ incomes through beekeeping, address climate change, regenerate forest cover and ensure food security for wildlife in their natural habitat,” he added, urging the state government to implement it.
Apart from Karnataka, states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are badly affected by wild elephant attacks. The use of bee boxes as a fence to prevent elephants from entering a human habitation is effective, as animals are usually afraid that honey bees could sting them in the eyes and inside of the trunk. The buzz of the bees also irritates the elephants, the KVIC said.
Source: Telangana Today