And if Plan A doesn't work, they also have a backup plan involving bees (which we'll call "Plan Two"). Elephants, it turns out, are terrified of bees, which sting their sensitive eyes and trunk. In fact, research has shown that elephants even have a word that means "Run like hell, the bees are coming!" Normally, this would not be terribly helpful, because it's kind of hard to train bees to attack things on command (it would qualify as an awesome superpower if you could). But they will defend their hive to the death. So, hey, why not stick a bunch of beehives on the fence?
It worked like a charm -- scientists monitored one stretch of bee fence for two years, and when it came to elephant attacks, the score was 44-1 in favor of the bees (44 elephants turned away, one got through, probably in a rage from being shot in the face with chili powder). And if maintaining a fence full of beehives sounds like a pain in the ass, it also works if you just play a recording of bee sounds over a loudspeaker.
OU/Lucy King
Eight people died to get this photograph.