GUWAHATI: Buoyed by the success of its innovative Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) in Karnataka, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has now replicated the project at two villages in Goalpara district in Assam where 332 human deaths due to elephant attacks were reported between 2014 and 2019.
Project RE-HAB was launched at 11 locations in Kodagu district of Karnataka on March 15, 2021.
In just six months, this project has reduced elephant attacks by over 70%.
Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of KVIC's National Honey Mission. While the Honey Mission is a programme to increase the bee population, honey production and beekeepers' income by setting up apiaries, Project RE-HAB uses bee boxes as a fence to prevent the elephant attacks. The idea is to create "bee-fences" by setting up bee boxes in the passage ways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories, without causing any harm to the animals.
"The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further. It is a cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animals," an official statement said.
It is scientifically recorded that elephants are annoyed by the honey bees. Elephants also fear that the bee swarms can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes. The collective buzz of the bees is annoying to elephants that force them to return.
