The BioBoundary Project is developing technically simple, minimally invasive, ecologically benign, and economically viable new tools to reduce human-wildlife conflict (HWC). We have discovered that  synthetic odour-based equivalents of predators’ scent signals can keep predators away from livestock, and that some plant-based odours can keep elephants away from crops and infrastructure. By using simple and cost-effective tools to reduce HWC we protect both rural livelihoods and wildlife.

African Wild Dog BioBoundary

African wild dog packs maintain remarkably stable home-range boundaries with their neighbours, and each home range has an exclusive core area where other packs do not trespass, Since BPC’s discovery in 2015 that neighbouring packs exchange scent-mark messages at long-lived shared marking sites, our intensive camera trapping and tracking studies have established that the scent-marks are how packs exchange the information that they need to mutually organise their use of space. The African Wild Dog perimeter BioBoundary project will replicate the “Keep out” signals of wild dog scent-marks, and use them to create artificial home-range boundaries around protected areas. The perimeter BioBoundaries will deter established packs from crossing into human-dominated areas where they are at risk from human-wildlife conflict, snares and vehicles.

Predator Deterrents

If the predators that live outside protected wildlife areas can be deterred from killing

livestock, the livestock owners will have no need to resort to lethal predator control to protect

their livelihoods. The BioBoundary project has found that 15 components of predator odours

repel predators at short range, and that three of them protect livestock in real-life tests on the

cattle ranches and subsistence livestock areas where human-predator conflict is a daily

reality. One component of predator urine, released from collars worn by goats, immediately

reduced losses to predators from 28 per month to zero. Collars with 3M3MB, a component of

leopard urine, is protecting two flocks of goats from leopards. No other non-lethal

intervention is as effective.

BioBoundary Elephant deterrents

With 80% of its 130 000 elephants sharing space with people, Botswana is the ideal test-bed

for new elephant deterrents. The BioBoundary project is testing natural herbivore repellents

extracted from plants as elephant deterrents, to provide more effective substitutes for chilis

and bees.