大象怕老鼠可能只是一個(gè)笑談,，然而非洲象卻真的對另一種小生物——蜜蜂——懷有極大的恐懼,。對于這些敵人，它們甚至有專門的警報(bào)信號,。日前,，科學(xué)家利用這種恐懼幫助肯尼亞農(nóng)民保護(hù)自己的莊稼。
在之前的研究中,，由英國牛津大學(xué)的動(dòng)物學(xué)家Lucy King領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的一個(gè)研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn),，當(dāng)聽到蜜蜂發(fā)出嗡嗡聲后，這些龐然大物會(huì)迅速逃離所在的區(qū)域,。
除了人類和獅子,，非洲大象在它們的熱帶大草原老家似乎沒有什么可害怕的。但是出于某種原因,，這些龐然大物卻對非洲蜜蜂充滿了恐懼,。一個(gè)狂暴的蜂群能夠蜇刺大象的眼睛和象鼻的內(nèi)部，并刺破幼象的皮膚,。
盡管非洲象的大部分表皮都很厚,，但它們身上也有一些脆弱的地方——腹部、耳后,、眼睛周圍以及象鼻內(nèi)部的皮膚較薄,，往往經(jīng)不起昆蟲的叮咬。
隨著非洲象棲息地日益減少,，這些龐然大物正在越來越多地襲擊農(nóng)民的莊稼,。
如今，為了解決這個(gè)問題,，還是這些科學(xué)家，他們設(shè)計(jì)并測試了一種圍欄,，這種圍欄每間隔10米便會(huì)設(shè)置一個(gè)蜂房。
研究小組沿著位于肯尼亞北部的17座農(nóng)場的邊界安裝了1700米的圍欄——這些地區(qū)經(jīng)常遭到野生大象的襲擊,；而相同農(nóng)場的另外1700米的邊界則僅僅用荊棘樹當(dāng)做圍欄。
兩年之后,，用蜂箱做成的圍欄輕松地贏得了這場比賽，只有一頭公象沖破了這道圍欄,，而另外有31頭大象設(shè)法搗毀了由荊棘樹構(gòu)成的圍欄。
科學(xué)家在最新一期的《非洲生態(tài)學(xué)期刊》（African Journal of Ecology）上報(bào)告了這一研究成果,。
研究人員指出，蜂房圍欄因此還能夠用來幫助限制人類與大象的沖突數(shù)量,，隨著非洲人口的不斷增加，以及農(nóng)民與大象對土地和水源進(jìn)行的爭奪,，這一問題正變得愈發(fā)明顯,。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
African Journal of Ecology DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01275.x
Beehive fences as effective deterrents for crop‐\raiding elephants: field trials in northern Kenya
King, Lucy E.; Douglas‐Hamilton, Iain; Vollrath, Fritz
Increasing elephant populations in Kenya since 1989 have been widely praised as a conservation success story. However, where elephants and agricultural land overlap, incidents of human–elephant conflict are on the increase. Wildlife managers and farmers are now trying different farm-based deterrents to keep elephants out of crops. Here, we present data on the effectiveness of a novel beehive fence deployed in a Turkana community of 62 communally run farms in Kenya. Specifically, 1700 m of beehive fences semi-surrounded the outer boundaries of seventeen farms, and we compared elephant farm invasion events with these and to seventeen neighbouring farms whose boundaries were ‘protected’ only by thorn bush barriers. We present data from 45 farm invasions, or attempted invasions, recorded over 2 years. Thirteen groups of elephants approached the beehive fences and turned away. Of the 32 successful farm invasions, only one bull elephant broke through the beehive fences. These results demonstrate that beehive fences are more effective than thorn bush barriers at deterring elephants and may have a role to play in alleviating farmer–elephant conflict. Additionally, the harvesting of 106 kg of honey during the trial period suggests that beehive fences may also improve crop production and enhance rural livelihoods through honey sales.
