The sensory ecology of fear: African elephants show aversion to olfactory predator signals
peer-reviewed
Erstveröffentlichung
2020-12-10Authors
Valenta, Kim
Schmitt, Melissa H.
Ayasse, Manfred
Nevo, Omer
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Published in
Conservation Science and Practice ; § (2021), 2. - Art.-Nr. e333. - eISSN 2578-4854
Link to original publication
https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/csp2.333Faculties
Fakultät für NaturwissenschaftenInstitutions
Institut für Evolutionsökologie und NaturschutzgenomikExternal cooperations
University of FloridaSAEON South African Environmental Observation Network
Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Document version
published version (publisher's PDF)Abstract
Human–elephant conflict is a persistent problem across elephant home ranges,
that results in economic damage to commercial and subsistence farmers, and
physical harm and death to humans and elephants. This problem is likely to
intensify with increased development, dwindling of natural habitats, and climate
change-driven environmental shifts. Various methods to mitigate
human–elephant conflict have been employed, but to date these have been
hampered by financial and logistical considerations. Based on the fact that
African elephants are predated by lions and possess a remarkable sense of
smell, we hypothesize that elephants are strongly averse to olfactory signals of
lion presence, and that this can be utilized to create invisible barriers which
elephants will not cross. We conducted a series of tests that show that lion
dung is an effective deterrent of elephants. We conducted chemical analyses of
lion dung and identified the main compounds. We then used synthetic mixtures
containing these compounds, and show that they successfully elicit the
deterrence effect, even in miniscule concentrations. These results indicate that
elephants can be deterred using simple and low-concentration mixtures based
on available commercial products, that can be developed into products that
offer a safe, sustainable, and cost-effective method to mitigate human–
elephant conflict.
Subject headings
[GND]: Chemische Ökologie[LCSH]: Chemical ecology
[Free subject headings]: Applied conservation | Biological fencing | Elephant deterrence | Human– elephant conflict | Predator avoidance
[DDC subject group]: DDC 570 / Life sciences | DDC 590 / Animals (Zoology)
Metadata
Show full item recordDOI & citation
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18725/OPARU-37788
Valenta, Kim et al. (2021): The sensory ecology of fear: African elephants show aversion to olfactory predator signals. Open Access Repositorium der Universität Ulm und Technischen Hochschule Ulm. http://dx.doi.org/10.18725/OPARU-37788
Citation formatter >