International Conference on Asian Elephants in Culture & Nature
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/14026
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Item Level of Knowledge of the Human-Elephant Conflict among Farmers of Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Senthilkumar, K.; Mathialagan, P.; Jayathangaraj, M.G.; Manoharan, N.S.India’s immense natural beauty lies in its rich and diverse wildlife fauna. India holds 24 per cent of forest covers out of its total land area. Tamil Nadu ranks 13th in terms of recorded forest area of India. A survey was conducted among 60 human-elephant conflict affected farmers to understand the knowledge of the human-elephant conflict in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu, India. Among the farmers who have been victims of the human-elephant conflict, half of the population (50.00 %) had medium level of knowledge on HWC followed by low level of knowledge (46.70 %). A total of fifteen items under the knowledge category with regard to human-elephant conflict were ranked based on their mean rank. The study revealed that four knowledge items viz., elephant can run fast, female elephant would lead the group, season of intrusion into agricultural fields and musth elephants only would enter into the agricultural field has got highest mean score (10.91) and occupy the first four positions. It was observed that the mean knowledge scored for human-elephant conflict was 95.02. Farmers suggested to make the people aware through mass media and booklets to mitigate HEC.Item Behaviour and Social Dynamics of Asian Elephants: Can Beehive Fencing Deter Asian Elephants from Raiding Crops?(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Butler, K.M.Human-elephant conflict (HEC), specifically crop-raiding, is a major conservation challenge. Many methods have been trialled to deter elephants from crops with varying success. One unique method demonstrating success in Africa is beehive fencing. A beehive fence is a simple construction of beehives hung from posts and connected to each other with wire, surrounding an area to be protected. Trials show that farms protected by beehive fencing experience less crop raids than nearby farms without. Thus, beehive fencing may play an important role in reducing farmer-elephant conflict. This project is the first to investigate beehive fencing as an Asian elephant crop-raiding deterrent, while simultaneously investigating characteristics and social patterns of the local elephant population to assess whether crop-raiding individuals share common traits, or if social patterns can provide insight into how elephants acquire crop-raiding behaviour and/or learn to respond to mitigation techniques. We are working with farmers highly affected by crop-raiding, to establish and monitor beehive fences and to teach beekeeping skills. Data is collected on crop-raiding events, and demographic characteristics, personality, association patterns and genetic relatedness of elephants, using methods including researcher observations, farmer interviews, transect surveys and DNA analysis. Farmers should benefit from reduced crop-raiding and improved harvests, and also from additional income generated through honey sales. Generating in-depth knowledge of elephant crop-raiding characteristics and the overall potential of beehive fencing as an Asian elephant deterrent will enable identification of other HEC hotspots in Asia that may benefit from this technique, and help to facilitate its expansion to other locations.