Folk Narratives: Bees & Elephants

Most human-wildlife interactions are violent; one party gets to hurt the other. Hence, we need to negotiate living spaces with our non-human neighbors. The facts are glaring—population growth encouraged human encroachment on wildlife territory. When wildlife intrudes into farmlands for food, they get killed or maimed. We don’t want this.

A folk narrative from Kenya told of the relationship between bees and elephants. Elephants are known to be terrified of bees, and researchers decided to apply this folklore. Amplified angry bee noises were played on megaphones, which kept the elephants away. Some farmers adopted this method, and the aim is to minimize conflict with elephants.

Human ‘language’ towards wildlife and nature might be violent times. In this case, we speak to the elephants through the language of the bees.

This is one example.


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