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Young World
NEWSCAN
Red hot chilli pepper
COMPILED BY R. KRITHIKA
Ever thought of using a red hot chilli as a conservations measure? Wildlife experts in Assam are trying to see if the bhut jolokia chillies, certified as the hottest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records, will keep the rampaging elephant herds from destroying crops and villages on their path. Fences made of strong jute fibre and smeared with grease and the chilli powder, smoke bombs made from chilli powder and straw nests filled with dry chilis and then burnt are some of the methods. Nandita Hazarika, of Assam Haathi Project, told AP that the strong smell drove away the animals. India’s troubled Northeast has the world’s largest count of wild Asiatic elephants; Assam alone has about 5000. And the man-animal conflict has been increasing as the humans encroach into the animal’s habitat. Villagers tend to use poison and electricity to save their farms and homes, leading conservationists to look for other means to save the elephants.
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