<
https://theconversation.com/how-do-you-stop-elephant-herds-from-trashing-crops-and-trees-target-sensitive-nostrils-with-a-scent-fence-239593>
"Elephant numbers are surging in southern Africa, with fewer natural predators,
reduced hunting pressure and feeding by farmers and tourist operators.
While this is good for elephants, it’s making life harder for humans who live
near them. These huge herbivores can raid crops and destroy large trees in
national parks with impunity, causing problems for farmers and land managers
alike.
Traditional solutions aren’t ideal. Culling is controversial, and building
fences strong enough to deter elephants is very expensive.
But there’s another option: a fence made of scent. We have explored how
specific plant scents can stop wallabies from eating native seedlings. The
technique works on Australian herbivores. Would it work for southern Africa’s
much larger elephants?
Our new research put this idea to the test. We mimicked the scent of a shrub
known as common guarri (
Euclea undulata), which elephants avoid eating, and
built a Y-shaped maze for elephants. We placed the scent on one side of the Y
and left the other side scent-free.
The results were clear – our elephants voted with their trunks and avoided the
stinky side. This suggests scent could play a useful role in fending off hungry
pachyderms."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
