Namibia: Vuvuzelas Used to Scare Off Jumbos

11 February 2011, 10:48

Alan Bunn

Namibia: Vuvuzelas Used to Scare Off Jumbos

RURAL communities in the North whose crops and homesteads are destroyed by elephants have been given vuvuzelas to scare off the jumbos.

Dr Kalumbi Shangula, the permanent secretary of Environment and Tourism, says at the moment the noise is enough to make elephants stop in their tracks, but they may get used to it over time.

Human-wildlife conflict is one of the main challenges facing the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

Chilli pepper 'bombs' - hot chillies mixed with animal dung, dried and set on fire - can also be used to irritate the sensitive trunks of elephants and keep them out of crop fields.

But the vuvuzela - an irritating plastic horn invented by South African football fans and employed to devastating effect during last year's World Cup - may yet prove to be the best elephant deterrent.

Cheers,

~ Alan

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11 February 2011, 11:54

fujotupu

quote:
But the vuvuzela - an irritating plastic horn invented by South African football fans and employed to devastating effect during last year's World Cup - may yet prove to be the best elephant deterrent.

A village armed with Vuvuzelas would scare the living crap out of anything - dead or alive

11 February 2011, 18:02

HJ wild

When I hunted a PAC elephants in Namibia the farmers showed us the damage caused by ele: they cause a lot of damage to dams (breaking down the walls), destroying windmill driven water pumps and crops. One farmer told us that the yearly damage amounted to around 100,000 € (ca 135,000 $US). So, there exist a of lot methods to keep the ele away: scattering pebbles around the affected dams, mixing ele intestines with ele blood and distribute the mixture etc. None these schemes works. And then, of course, shooting the ele. My friend shot a bull out off a group of five. Didn’t help either! Two days later they were back again. Wonder if the vuvuzelas will work. I am somewhat sceptic!

Cheers; Hans

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12 February 2011, 00:07

<generalwar>

quote:
Originally posted by fujotupu:
quote:
But the vuvuzela - an irritating plastic horn invented by South African football fans and employed to devastating effect during last year's World Cup - may yet prove to be the best elephant deterrent.

A village armed with Vuvuzelas would scare the living crap out of anything - dead or alive

12 February 2011, 01:35

Alan Bunn

quote:
Originally posted by HJ wild:
When I hunted a PAC elephants in Namibia the farmers showed us the damage caused by ele: they cause a lot of damage to dams (breaking down the walls), destroying windmill driven water pumps and crops. One farmer told us that the yearly damage amounted to around 100,000 € (ca 135,000 $US). So, there exist a of lot methods to keep the ele away: scattering pebbles around the affected dams, mixing ele intestines with ele blood and distribute the mixture etc. None these schemes works. And then, of course, shooting the ele. My friend shot a bull out off a group of five. Didn’t help either! Two days later they were back again. Wonder if the vuvuzelas will work. I am somewhat sceptic!

Cheers; Hans

Hans,

There needs to be some research done to find an inexpensive device to scare off the elephants. $135,000 in yearly damages is unsustainable for small land holders or even big land holders! With this constant ongoing problem of crop raiders, I wonder why no big organization hasn't investigated some scheme to drive them off.

I am no elephant expert, but if you had something like a 'Roman candle' which you could fire at them from a distance, that should throw them into a panic. Of course, this has probably already been tried and discounted because of the danger of setting the bushveldt on fire. However, if a small remote controlled flying device equipped with a strobe light and a loud speaker were used, it would simulate a similar effect, but the price would be prohibitive.

I guess the best medicine is the old tried and true 500 grain pill.