Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks Using Bees):
A pilot project launched in Kodagu, Karnataka entails installing bee boxes along the periphery of the forest and the villages with the belief that the elephants will not venture anywhere close to the bees and thus avoid transgressing into the human landscape.
- This idea stems from the elephants’ proven fear of the bees.
- An initiative of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) intends to create “bee fences” to thwart elephant attacks in human habitations using honeybees.
- The pilot project was launched at four locations around Chelur village in the Kodagu district by KVIC. These spots are located on the periphery of the Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve, a known conflict zone.
- Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of the KVIC’s National Honey Mission.
- Between 2015 and 2020, nearly 2,500 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks across India, of which 170 human fatalities have been reported in Karnataka alone, says the KVIC.
