Sătenii din Kenya aveau probleme serioase cu elefanţii care le distrugeau recoltele. Un studiu recent arată însă că există o soluţie foarte simplă la această problemă şi încă una care să nu îi rănească pe blânzii giganţi. Se pare că elefanţilor le este, mai presus de orice, teamă de albine. O relatare de Sunita Nahar.

Ascultaţi povestea

It's not mice that scare elephants but creatures much much smaller.

(FX - BEES)

This is the gentle buzz of bees in the English countryside but the angry buzz of their fiercer cousins in Kenya is such that it terrifies the giant beasts.

Lucy King, a zoologist who led a study by Save the Elephant group, says that nearly all the elephants exposed to a recording of bees immediately ran away, in contrast to those who heard a recording of background static. With the bees, they stopped what they were doing, turned to the speaker from where the buzzing was coming and turned their heads from side to side trying to locate the noise. Their trunks were all up in the air until one of them signalled a retreat and they all fled.

Lucy King says angry residents in Kenya have been known to shoot at elephants when they trample their crops. Building electric fences wasn't practical so her group decided to test a Kenyan folktale about bees to save the elephants instead.

Ascultaţi cuvintele

scare
a speria, a îngrozi

fiercer cousins
rudele mai înspăimântătoare, mai sălbatice (aici, albinele keniene sunt mai înspăimântătoare decât albinele obişnuite; "cousins" înseamnă "văr" sau "verişoară")

exposed to a recording of
cei care au ascultat sunetele de, au fost expuşi la

in contrast to
spre deosebire de, în contrast cu

background static
zgomot de fond

the speaker
boxa, difuzorul

trunks were all up in the air
cu trompele ridicate în aer

signalled a retreat and they all fled
(un elefant) a dat semnalul de retragere şi toţi ceilalţi l-au urmat

trample their crops
calcă în picioare recoltele

folktale
basm, poveste tradiţională