African bush elephants respond to a honeybee alarm pheromone blend

Mark G Wright; Craig Spencer; Robin M Cook; Michelle D Henley; Warren North; Agenor Mafra-Neto

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.008

African bush elephants respond to a honeybee alarm pheromone blend

Curr Biol. 2018 Jul 23;28(14):R778-R780. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.008.

Authors

Mark G Wright¹, Craig Spencer², Robin M Cook³, Michelle D Henley⁴, Warren North², Agenor Mafra-Neto⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 3050 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Electronic address: markwrig@hawaii.edu.
² Balule Nature Reserve, Hoedspruit, South Africa.
³ Elephants Alive, P.O. Box 960, Hoedspruit 1380, South Africa.
⁴ Elephants Alive, P.O. Box 960, Hoedspruit 1380, South Africa; Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Private Bag X5, Florida 1710, South Africa.
⁵ ISCA Technologies, 1230 Spring Street, Riverside, CA 92507, USA. Electronic address: president@iscatech.com.

PMID: 30040934
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.008

Abstract

We here report the responses of African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) to a crude approximation of the honeybee alarm pheromone blend. We show that the elephants had an avoidance response to the semiochemical blend. The use of honeybee alarm pheromones to manage elephant movements in a non-invasive manner, using natural cues to which elephants may have an evolved response, holds potential for development of new options for an integrated system for elephant movement management and protection.

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Animals
Avoidance Learning*
Bees / chemistry*
Elephants / physiology*
Pheromones / pharmacology*
South Africa

Substances

Pheromones