Comment on Thai farmers launch (bee) sting operation to stop elephants

Thai farmers launch (bee) sting operation to stop elephants

PANA, Thailand (AP) — To stop wild elephants from rampaging through their produce, farmers in Thailand put up electric fences, set off firecrackers and even switched their crops from pineapples to pumpkins, which the pachyderms don't relish much. In a pilot scheme run by the Thai Department of National Parks, farmers are deploying bees as a new line of defense, exploiting elephants' documented fear of bee stings. There are an estimated 3,000 wild elephants in Thailand, according to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center. [...] as farmers push into forests for agriculture, elephants have been forced to venture out of their shrinking habitats in search of food. Help for the residents of the remote Pana village came from a government wildlife research station, which is helping them raise bees. When the elephants try to enter, they push at the ropes and shake the beehives, causing the bees to swarm out in a fearsome cloud of buzz and venomous sting that the animals are unlikely to forget. A spin-off benefit is that for every 50 boxes she cultivates, she harvests 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of honey, which sells for 150 to 500 baht ($4.30 to $14.30) per kilogram, or $9.50 to $31.50 per pound.

 

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