“Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya
Human–elephant conflict is increasing across many parts of Asia and Africa. Mitigating elephant crop raiding has become a major focus of conservation intervention, however, many existing methods for tackling this problem are expensive and difficult to execute. Thus, there is a need for more affordab...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI
2022
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| _version_ | 1826308102709837824 |
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| author | Tiller, LN Oniba, E Opira, G Brennan, EJ King, LE Ndombi, V Wanjala, D Robertson, MR |
| author_facet | Tiller, LN Oniba, E Opira, G Brennan, EJ King, LE Ndombi, V Wanjala, D Robertson, MR |
| author_sort | Tiller, LN |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Human–elephant conflict is increasing across many parts of Asia and Africa. Mitigating elephant crop raiding has become a major focus of conservation intervention, however, many existing methods for tackling this problem are expensive and difficult to execute. Thus, there is a need for more affordable, farm-based methods. Testing these methods is key to ensuring their effectiveness and feasibility. In this study, we tested a novel olfactory deterrent, the “smelly elephant repellent”, a foul-smelling organic liquid, on 40 farms in Uganda and Kenya. Our results show that the repellent was effective at deterring elephants from crop raiding. Over the study period, 82% of 309 elephant crop raids were deterred in Uganda. In Kenya, the repellent deterred 63% of 24 crop raiding incidents, and there was a significant effect of the repellent on test sites compared with control sites. The smelly repellent could be a helpful crop raiding mitigation tool for farmers, as this study showed it to be effective, relatively cheap, quick to produce from locally available ingredients, and communities have a positive attitude towards using it. Ongoing work is exploring the potential for a market-based approach to take this to scale in a financially sustainable way. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:14:28Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:de10fa20-25e1-46de-8ccd-ab834d6cc215 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:14:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:de10fa20-25e1-46de-8ccd-ab834d6cc2152022-07-19T13:03:16Z“Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and KenyaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:de10fa20-25e1-46de-8ccd-ab834d6cc215EnglishSymplectic ElementsMDPI2022Tiller, LNOniba, EOpira, GBrennan, EJKing, LENdombi, VWanjala, DRobertson, MRHuman–elephant conflict is increasing across many parts of Asia and Africa. Mitigating elephant crop raiding has become a major focus of conservation intervention, however, many existing methods for tackling this problem are expensive and difficult to execute. Thus, there is a need for more affordable, farm-based methods. Testing these methods is key to ensuring their effectiveness and feasibility. In this study, we tested a novel olfactory deterrent, the “smelly elephant repellent”, a foul-smelling organic liquid, on 40 farms in Uganda and Kenya. Our results show that the repellent was effective at deterring elephants from crop raiding. Over the study period, 82% of 309 elephant crop raids were deterred in Uganda. In Kenya, the repellent deterred 63% of 24 crop raiding incidents, and there was a significant effect of the repellent on test sites compared with control sites. The smelly repellent could be a helpful crop raiding mitigation tool for farmers, as this study showed it to be effective, relatively cheap, quick to produce from locally available ingredients, and communities have a positive attitude towards using it. Ongoing work is exploring the potential for a market-based approach to take this to scale in a financially sustainable way. |
| spellingShingle | Tiller, LN Oniba, E Opira, G Brennan, EJ King, LE Ndombi, V Wanjala, D Robertson, MR “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title | “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title_full | “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title_fullStr | “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title_short | “Smelly” elephant repellent: assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in Uganda and Kenya |
| title_sort | smelly elephant repellent assessing the efficacy of a novel olfactory approach to mitigating elephant crop raiding in uganda and kenya |
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