Indian officials are doing everything they can to reduce the number of elephants killed by trains, a common problem in the country. The most recent effort uses the sound of bees to keep elephants away from the tracks.
“The buzzing sound is in a frequency the elephants do not like,” a railway manager, Ravilesh Kumar, told Hindustan Times when the project was first launched in November 2017. “The device has prevented the animals from approaching the tracks at least five times, but we have instructed employees near elephant corridors to use the device only if the elephants come when trains are approaching,”
So far, the device has been the most effective technique to keep elephants away, and at Rs 2,000 (just under 30 USD) it’s relatively cheap to create. The officials simply downloaded a recording of honey bees and amplified it to create a sound range of 600 meters.
This new method of keeping elephants away was so successful, officials decided to install it in other regions as well. Originally tested in Rangiya, it is now being implemented in the Dooars region of Kishangnaj-Guwahati. After looking at elephant routes, speakers were installed at 27 locations along the railroad track.
“We are trying hard to save the elephants from being knocked down on tracks in the elephant corridor and the initial experiment has yielded positive results so far,” the National Frontier railway’s chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Verma said.
In addition to the buzzing sound to warn elephants away, authorities have introduced new speed restrictions in certain zones and created a Whatsapp group for forest officials to share information about elephant locations more quickly. This chat-based app also helps alert railway workers about elephants approaching the tracks.
Despite the device’s success in keeping elephants away, more work needs to be done to ensure their safety.
Just two months ago, 4 elephants died when they were hit by a speeding train conductor. Although authorities require conductors to reduce their velocity in zones where elephants commonly roam, this driver sped through at 75 mph.
Yet, if it weren’t for this negligent driver, the number of elephant deaths due to train crashes would be at just 1 for this year. This shows the new measures have potential to be effective as long as individual drivers follow procedures.
India is home to between 23,900 to 32,900 wild elephants. Poachers and human-elephant conflicts already put elephants at risk, and trains that cross through elephant routes add to the challenge of conserving the species. In just one region of India, West Bengal, 30 elephants died from train accidents between 2013 and 2017 yet the conductors responsible for the deaths had no consequences.
Officials plan to soon introduce another layer of protection – adding 109 km of fencing along certain areas of the railway tracks.
SOMETHING GOOD IS COMING AT LAST!!!
Anything that helps save these animals is a blessing.
SHARED =FUCKED UP SAVAGES ASIANS !!!
Trains can go slower and watch out for herds in the area.
Prosecute these drivers. Won’t the elephants return to find food?
The killing of these huge and majestic animals makes me sick and mad as hell. It is about time that something was done to stop the horrific killing of these elephants now..
LET’S ONLY HOPE AND PRAY THAT NO MORE ELEPHANTS ARE UNNECESSARILY KILLED BY THESE TRAINS!!
Arrête de tué des éléphants y en a marre de marre
Hope the bees keep saving the elephants from getting hit by the trains. Please keep trying to find ways to save these elephants.
The driver of the train going 75mph where it was not supposed to because of the elephants certainly doesn’t deserve protection! He didn’t try to protect the elephants & killed 4 vital elephants & when pregnant ones are hit & killed we lose 2 at once. KUDOS to those finding out & deciding to use the sound of buzzing bees to save elephants from perhaps crossing train tracks & causing more elephant deaths. Thank you to forest workers who alert train drivers of elephants on or approaching tracks. God Bless all who care enough to do whatever they can & whatever they can think of to save elephants in any way! Poachers have been a horrible problem for out elephants! I say “our” elephants because I feel they belong to all the world! To all those who love them! If there is any way possibly probable to save them, PLEASE DO! It’s a wonderful feeling to know many are doing whatever it takes to save these beautiful, majestic, gentle, loving, persecuted animals & keep babies from being orphaned & traumatized, left to starve or captured & sold to awful people who will beat them mercilessly,(like Ballu Khan & his brother) & others) work them no matter what kind of shape they are in or sell them to logging camps, circuses, etc. These are not places for any elephant! They should be left in the wild, babies with mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, etc. (until Mam nudges the little bull elephants along after a certain age). Thank You to ALL who are trying to make this a reality!
Fencing is a bad plan. Obviously this prevents their migration paths.
This is a brillant plan. Now if only we could get the drivers to slow down. ?✈️?✈️????????
Thank you to all who help save the elephants. What a wonderful idea. I hope so much it keeps working. We all love the elephants!
Ingenious! I hope it saves them
Agreed. Such a gentle kind of intervention by humans to save the elephants. Train drivers should be prosecuted for speeding though. There need to be stricter laws in India!
What an ingenious and humane way to help keep elephants away from railroad tracks that are in use. I hope that this gets widespread traction and helps to save many elephants in India and elsewhere.
LOVE the natural way elephants are protected from evil humans.
Anything that saves these wonderful creatures is great.
But – start holding the idiot conductors responsible for keeping elephants, and all animals, safer.
My heart breaks for the suffering and death these elephants undergo when disaster strikes — ANYTHING THAT MAKES THEIR LIVES BETTER, HAPPIER is always good news — keep it up — keep protecting them every which way you can — elephants are a country’s national treasure — they’re beautiful, majestic, sensitive, intelligent animals — PLEASE ensure their good health and happiness — REMEMBER, the world adores these animals and are here to help you.
What a marvellous and innovative approach to protecting these magnificent animals. However, why weren’t those
conductors pumished? They are evil incarnate