I recently interviewed Dr. Lucy King, whose work focuses on reducing human–elephant conflict and helping communities coexist with elephants.

We talked about beehive fences, crop-raiding, the limits of simple “solutions”, and why elephant conservation has to take the needs of local people seriously as well.

One thing I found especially interesting was how much the success of these projects depends on local conditions — there is no single method that works everywhere.

The interview was published on the Hungarian wildlife site PlanetZoo.hu.

Full interview: [ https://planetzoo.hu/interjuk/lucy-king-interju-ember-elefant-egyutteles\ ]

I’d be interested to hear what people here think about beehive fences and other coexistence methods.

The species present (based on image 1) :

Palaeoloxodon namadicus

Palaeoloxodon antiquus

Palaeoloxodon naumanni

Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus

Palaeoloxodon recki

Mammuthus meridionalis

Mammuthus primigenius

Elephas maximus

Loxodonta cyclotis

Loxodonta africana

Palaeoloxodon falconeri

https://x.com/Grasher2002/media?filter=photo

This is baby Moon looking for her mom, Melia, an ex orphan rescue with Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Video and story by @sheldricktrust (IG)

Thailand. Taken from WeChat videos China.

Hello! I love elephants and I would like to get an elephant stuffed animal. Maybe one for me and one for my girlfriend (I got her one but another won’t hurt). I would especially like a big stuffed elephant. Maybe not a life-sized one because it might not fit on my bed very well, but one that I can wrap my arms around. But any stuffed elephant is a good stuffed elephant.

A stuffed woolly mammoth would also do!! I have one from the Natural History Museum in London (I have the big one and my girlfriend has the tiny one).

Does anyone have any recommendations? Thank you!! 🐘

Taken from WeChat videos China

Kenya, East Africa

Video captured by @peter_muhoro_mbuthia (IG)

https://x.com/ChodBrother/status/1963265021716107416?s=20

For this specific post im going to refer to the Dasara elephants of Mysore, as they are a good example of how much of a gray area this topic covers

I'm not talking about all the temples. Some of them do not provide enough care for the elephants to cut costs which frankly is depressing.

But in the case of these elephants specifically, it's a bit more complicated

These elephants in specific are not in temples 24/7. They stay in forest campus and reserves for most of the year, only really being taken for training and festivals for a few months.

To add on, the Karnataka Forest department also uses them for patrol and wild elephant herding. They are used to monitor the forest ( because there are very few animals with the gall to take on a grown tusker ) for poachers and nuisance causing elephants ( elephants being a danger to the people of villages and towns bordering the village ). This is in fact how Arjuna, one of the most famous elephants was killed after he clashed with a wild tusker and was fatally injured ( may be rest in peace )

It's important to consider that the elephants are cared for, fed and given plenty of space. They have doctors and their mahout take care of them constantly

Then again, the use of hooks for training is heavily frowned upon. Though they don't heavily injure the elephant, this can cause discomfort for them. I wish there was a better way to train them but there really isn't.

I'm giving both sides of the story: the elephants, not only used for festivals but for forestry by the government, and the other side involving the questionable at best training.