 | |  | | : Conservation projects | 
 | | | Elephants - the biggest problem facing the new Park | |
| | | | When in Guludo, and its' surrounding villages, it is rare to see a child who does not look mal-nourished. This seems to be true throughout the Quirimbas National Park (QNP), the most heavily populated park in Africa. When roughly two thirds of all crops are lost to elephants it is clear their growing population is not just a wildlife problem but a serious humanitarian problem too.
In most mashambas (small family farms) you will see a small shelter, normally a small grass roof, in the corner of the fields. The shelter is where the farmers sleep at night when they are trying to protect their fields. All the farmers can do is make as much noise as possible and scare the timid elephants away and hope that a hungry lion or hyena doesn't pass by too close that night.
 | | > Protected mashamba |
: perhaps not so thick skinned
Since February 2003 the QNP have been using a method that was first developed in Zimbabwe throughout the villages in the national park. Rope is soaked in a solution made up of old engine oil and piri piri (chillies) and tied around the mashambas. When the elephant's skin comes into contact with the rope it burns their skin for about 3 days. Fortunately for everyone, the burnt elephant seems to communicate with the others to stay away. The other technique is to make a "piri piri bomb". Piri piri is mixed with elephant dung and set alight to produce a natural alternative to tear gas. The smoke burns the throats and eyes of any one nearby, including the elephants.
: the results
Seven months after the project started the results are looking promising. Unfortunately there are a few smart elephants that have now started throwing logs over the rope so they can get to the crops without being burnt. However, on the whole the human and elephant populations are starting to live together more harmoniously. Having had such a bad crop yield this year the precious extra un-trampled food has no doubt helped to feed some of those small round bellies.
Last week we discovered first hand that the human/elephant conflict is not only over crop raiding. Click here to find out why.
: more stories
 DUGONG TRACKS found in the Guludo Bay > 03/08/2006
Elephants - the biggest problem facing the new Park > 15/09/2003
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