Recently Moses and his team at AFeWiS (Alert for endangered wildlife species) began installing a beehive fence to save elephants outside Lendoiya village by Arusha National Park in Tanzania.

During dry seasons elephants and other wildlife find village crops most inviting. This of course creates problems for the villagers. Not only are their crops destroyed at times human lives are lost. As you can imagine this provokes an angry response where elephants are killed with spears and guns.

Moses Ryakitimbo takes these human wildlife conflict situations very seriously. So much so that he started his own NGO, Alert for Endangered Wildlife Species (AFeWiS.) His team is about finding solutions and spreading awareness to save elephants and village crops.

After a failed attempt to meet up with Moses back in 2017 he has stayed in touch and most recently requested help. Nikela sent funds to build 10 beehives to contribute to the beehive fence outside the Lendoiva village.

After constructing the boxes Moses and his team began installing a beehive fence to save elephants. The construction is such that when an elephant brushes against the poles the box swings disturbing the bees. As you can imagine the disturbed bees fly out and buzz around. This causes the elephants to back off. The solution seems simple, however, we’re told that this works in other areas… from neighboring Uganda to more sophisticated areas like the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

From the photos you can see how remote and beautiful this area in Tanzania is. Here humans and wildlife strive to coexist. At times successfully at times not. However, with people like Moses and his beehive fence to save elephants they’re making a difference.