The Elephant Pepper Development Trust (EPDT) is encouraging local farmers to burn briquettes of chili to ward off the stomping giants. It's a technique that Loki Osborn, director of the EPDT, said is very effective given the elephant's delicate sense of smell.
In an interview with CNN, he said: "The hot chili peppers are very distasteful to elephants because of their advanced olfactory systems. They pick up things in the environment that we have no idea about."
"Chilies really irritate them and cause a very short term, very painful experience for them that goes away," he added.
But although the red hot chili peppers may cause some discomfort to the elephants in the short term, it is the lesser of two evils, notes Osborn.
The longstanding conflict between farmers and elephants is devastating both sets of communities.
Farmers sometimes kill elephants in an effort to protect their crops while the latter decimate food and grain stores, occasionally injuring or killing humans and livestock.
What's more -- farmers are bearing the costs of living with elephants and receive little of the benefits, says the EPDT. Even where community-based conservation initiatives exist, and elephants generate large revenues, the money doesn't filter down to local population.
Osborn said that creating an environment where people and elephants can live in harmony is key, but that doesn't necessarily mean taking a conventional approach to conservation.
And that's where the chilies come in.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
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