Toy tigers don't scare elephants

Saturday, January 31, 2015

In an attempt to stop wild elephants, some farmers in southern India have begun surrounding their fields with stuffed tigers, the BBC reports.

Each costing 1,100 rupees ($20), the life-sized stuffed tigers were placed around the fields along with recordings of growls and roars. Farmers hoped that they would scare off the unwelcome elephants, which are increasingly in competition with humans due to shrinking habitats. M.R. Sivasami, president of a local farmers' association, told the Times of India that elephants "last year destroyed ragi, paddy and vegetable crops in many fields … causing huge losses to farmers." Unfortunately, the elephants trampled or simply ignored the toys.

But the tigers might still have some use; one farmer says that they have managed to keep monkeys away from his coconut farm. Shiva Kumar told the BBC "the toys have helped me save 1,000 coconuts this season." BF