Panic at the disco. Can solar powered strobe light barriers, reduce elephant crop raiding behavior?
Dr Tempe Adams1,2, Dr Neil Jordon2
1Elephants Without Borders, Kasane, Botswana, 2Centre of Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Conflict between humans and elephants is a notoriously complex problem that is increasing globally due to agricultural and urban expansion into and alongside wildlife protected areas. This field of study requires the ever-evolving development of effective mitigation tools to reduce conflict and allow coexistence. A many number of studies have trialed a range of mitigation techniques across the elephant range in both Africa and Asia with varying levels of success. Recently, solar strobe lights have been suggested as a potential mitigation strategy in deterring lions from Kraals, however it has never been trialed for elephants. We tested the effectiveness of the use of solar-power strobe light barriers in a farming community adjacent to the Chobe Forest Reserve and Chobe National Park in northern Botswana. Over a 2-year period (2016-2018) a solar strobe light fence barrier was trialed in 17 different farmer’s fields, in two different agricultural communities. The probability that one or more farms experienced elephant raiding was reduced in the presence of the barrier. These findings highlight the need to understand and trial new mitigation methods that can offer a positive outcome by reducing levels of human-wildlife conflict and promote tolerance of elephants in rural communities.
Biography:
Dr Tempe Adams is the lead researcher on Elephants Without Borders a Botswana based NGO in Botswana on the Human-Wildlife coexistence project. She completed her PhD studies with the University on New South Wales (UNSW) and Elephants Without Border 2016, entitled “Can humans and elephants coexist in Botswana?”, which formed the foundation of the current coexistence project. Dr Adams works on applying conservation scientific principles to enable human-wildlife coexistence by incorporating species spatial movements, social science and animal behavior scientific disciplines. The research focuses on the utilization of urban and agricultural corridors by wildlife, through time. As well and farmer-based participation and trialing of both traditional and novel mitigation strategies in reducing human-wildlife conflict. Previously Dr Adams worked on population estimates using passive acoustics of Blue whale subspecies off the East coast of Australia, as a part of the Mammal Lab for the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW. Dr Adams primary interest and focus of her work is using research to enable conservation of a species using adaptive management with changing environments.