The Truth about Elephants and Bees

Nairobi,
18 October 2012
- The Truth about elephants and
bees - UNEP CMS and Lufthansa Thesis Award winner talks
in UNEP HQ in Nairobi about the use of African Honeybee
fences for a crop and livelihood protection. The talk will
take place on Thursday 18 October at 12:45pm.

The British biologist, Dr Lucy E. King,
was the winner of the Lufthansa and UNEP/CMS Thesis Award
2011. Dr. King is the author of a most outstanding dissertation
about the interaction of the African Elephant Loxodonta
africana africana
and the African Honeybee Apis
mellifera
scutellata. With her thesis she
made a unique discovery that African Elephants will avoid
feeding on acacia trees that host beehives, regardless of
whether they are empty or occupied by African Honeybees.
As elephants migrate over large distances, they are confronted
with fences and human settlements, which constrain their
migration. By raiding crops and tearing down man-made barriers,
elephants potentially pose a threat to local populations.
African honey bees act as a deterrent to elephants and thus
prevent conflicts between the largest terrestrial mammals
and humans.

The relevance to the vision and goals of
UNEP/CMS to protect and improve the conservation status
of migratory animals as well as sophisticated structure
and methodology presented in the thesis were the main factor
in the Jury’s choice.

The 2011 Thesis Award of €10,000
sponsored by Deutsche Lufthansa was presented to the winner
at CMS COP 10, 20-25 November, in Bergen, Norway.

 

 

 

Last updated on 16 June 2014