| Kenyan elephants have been texting local wildlife | | | | is now a huge relief to the small farmers who rely on |
| rangers warning them that they are heading towards | | | | their crops for food and cash for school fees. |
| the crops of neighboring villages! The elephants from | | | | 31-year-old mother-of-two, Basila Mwasu, lives near |
| the Ol Pejeta conservancy have been equipped with | | | | the conservancy fence. Once an elephant stuck its |
| mobile phone SIM cards on their collars which | | | | trunk through a window into a room where her baby |
| automatically send text messages if they head | | | | daughter was sleeping and the family had stored |
| towards local villages. The bull elephants, which are | | | | some corn. She was forced to beat it back with a |
| almost extinct, have previously raided villagers' crops | | | | burning stick. On another occasion, one of the |
| during the harvest, sometimes wiping out six months | | | | elephants killed a neighbor who was defending his |
| of income at a time. | | | | crop. "We had to go into town to tell the game |
| As a result, the Kenyan Wildlife Service has | | | | (wardens) to chase the elephants away or we're |
| reluctantly had to shoot five animals that have been | | | | going to kill them all." said Mwasu. |
| particularly persistent. But now a virtual fence has | | | | The founder of the Save the Elephants project, Iain |
| been set up using a global positioning system that | | | | Douglas-Hamilton, said the project is still in its infancy, |
| mirrors the boundaries of the conservatory. | | | | and is not without problems. The collar batteries wear |
| Kimani is one of the bull elephants with a SIM card. | | | | out every few years and with Ol Pejeta having five |
| Whenever he approaches the virtual fence, his collar | | | | full-time staff and a standby vehicle to respond when |
| sends a text to rangers, who can head him off using | | | | a message flashes across a ranger's screen, the |
| spotlights to frighten him away. Kimani has been | | | | project has been very expensive. It is however a |
| intercepted 15 times since the project began. Once | | | | great success, as the villagers now feel safe. |
| almost a nightly raider, he last went near a farmer's | | | | "We can live together", said Mwasu. |
| field four months ago. | | | | "Elephants have the right to live, and we have the |
| The idea, drawn up by the Save the Elephants group, | | | | right to live too", she added. |
