People come to Africa to see elephants, and such safari tourism is a source of revenue for many African countries. But African farmers, especially those living around wildlife reserves, have often had a much different and less harmonious relationship with elephants.

Elephants can destroy a farmer’s crops overnight, despite deterrents such as noise making and expensive electric fences, and elephant-human conflict has often worsened as herds grow due to conservation while farmers expand agricultural areas. Often it becomes a local political problem.

Successfully managing elephants and farms in the same area rapidly became one of the most pressing wildlife management issues in Africa.