It’s a question that keeps farmers across Africa awake at night. If you fail, you’re going to lose some or all of your precious crops, and with it your ability to feed your family. Worst case, you might end up injured or dead trying to defend your livelihood.

If we want to keep elephants alive, we need to keep the peace between these large animals and the people that they share space with. Big Life achieves this with three approaches; ranger rapid response to farmers’ calls for help, electric fencing to keep elephants out of farmlands, and most recently, the use of thermal drones.

Of these, our fence has been successful at the largest scale, protecting a 60-mile boundary between wildland and farmland. 

To help us improve our understanding of what methods might help to deter these ‘fence-breakers’, we are collaborating with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants who have launched a study investigating this issue.

Led by Dr. Lydia Tiller at ATE, and in partnership with WildAid, this study seeks to test deterrents that have been used across the world. These include ‘Smelly Elephant Repellent’, a noxious concoction of natural ingredients that some regions in Africa have used successfully, a watchtower, thermal drones, LED motion sensor lights, and a trench dug in front of our electric fence.

As Dr Tiller says, “since every region—and every elephant population—is different, research is key to finding what works best. By testing and refining solutions, we provide communities with effective tools for peaceful coexistence.”

Stay tuned for updates on this exciting new study!

📸: Tal Manor / Amboseli Trust for Elephants