Prevention of human and animal conflict
Source - www.coastweek.com
Six crop-raiding male elephants have been de-tusked on Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
The exercise was carried out by Ol Pejeta and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
De-tusking means trimming of the tusks.
Its ultimate goal is to prevent the elephants from breaking the fences and venturing into the surrounding communities, where they become a threat to humans and their crops.
The pieces of tusk were handed over to the KWS Nanyuki station.
The animals are now being closely monitored in order to establish the effectiveness of the exercise.
The elephants were painted with large markings on their backs to make aerial monitoring easier to carry out.
De-tusking does no harm to the elephant since the part of the tusk that is removed has no nerves.
Having realized that their tusks are not affected by the electric current in the fence, the elephants had developed a habit of hooking their tusks onto the fence wires and pulling the wires off.
Historically, de-tusking has not been successful, but with close monitoring and changes in the configuration of the fences, Ol Pejeta felt that the exercise was worth a try.
If successful, the exercise will provide another important tool in the prevention of human aNd animal conflict.
