We are supporting Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary (KSES) in setting up their first set of beehives. Although bees have been helping warn off WILD elephants from cropland in Africa for several years and more recently in Thailand, this project is the first to help protect crops from SEMI-WILD elephants.

At KSES (based in Northern Thailand) the elephants are free-roaming during the day and chained up ethically at night time. Even with the use of the chain at night, and the mahouts following their elephants during the day, there is always a risk of the elephants breaking into fields, damaging the local communitys livelihoods and putting humans and themselves at risk. Often pesticides and fertiliser are left behind in the fields, which can be fatal to elephants if ingested.

KSES are setting up a community-based beehive fencing program, which will alleviate the need for night time confinement of elephants and keep them, local communities and their livelihoods safe. This project will also generate extra income for the local people who can sell the honey made from the beehives, this also creates an incentive to care for and maintain the beehive fence for the benefit of elephants and people.

Finally, the project through research and analysis will provide a guide for captive elephant managers to improve elephant welfare in terms of reducing the need for confinement, improving elephant diet, natural behaviour, inter-species behaviour and socialisation.

This project will teach the local villagers and mahouts that there is an alternative way to live in harmony with elephants...

You can find out more and sponsor a beehive by visiting ...

https://www.thailandelephants.org/sponsor-a-beehive