HWCM - Ministry of Environment and Tourism

National Workshop on Human Wildlife Conflict Management 2005
8 Can be dangerous due to the proximity of elephants;
8 Must be applied by trained personnel.
3. Killing problem elephants
8 Killing of individual problem animals by management authorities;
8 Commercial trophy hunts targeting problem animals;
8 Depopulation of elephants (culling or eliminating the entire elephant sub-population).
Lessons learned
8 A relatively cheap and quick control method but skill dependent;
8 Can provide value (meat, skins, ivory) to local populations;
8 May be difficult to identify culprit animals with certainty or predict their movements – but
SMS technology may hold promise;
8 Long-term effectiveness questioned (‘problem component’ theory);
8 Often involves sensitive political decisions at national level;
8 Influenced by external pressure at national and international levels.
4. Translocation
8 Removing individual problem elephants;
8 Removing the entire sub-population.
Lessons learned
8 May not work if only individual elephants are moved (problem component theory and
difficulties with identifying culprits);
8 Expensive, dangerous and complicated – needs expert staff and specialized equipment;
8 Potentially highly disruptive to elephant social dynamics;
8 Has to be carefully planned in national context as it can transfer problem elsewhere.
5. Physical Barriers
8 Cables and ad hoc fencing
8 Conventional fencing
8 Electric fencing
8 Stone walls
8 Moats
8 Buffer crops
Lessons learned
8 Ropes smeared with Chilli/tobacco and grease have shown promising results in a number
of sites (Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania) but long-term effectiveness not yet demonstrated;
8 Maintenance by affected communities is the key to effectiveness;
8 Lack of local community support can exacerbate HEC (fencing often used as snares);
8 Can be resource and/or labour intensive;
8 Often fail because of poor design, layout or maintenance.
6. Experimental Repellents and Alarm Calls
8 Olfactory repellents:
• Capsicum;
• Smoke from burning chilli seeds;
• Rubber;
• Dung;
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