ABS 2023
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‘Targeted personality device’: Leveraging responses to multi-modal stimuli to support conservation
Matthew S. Rudolph1,2, Robbie Ball1,2, Sarah L. Jacobson1,2, Francesca Mahoney3, Martyn Griffiths3, Joshua M. Plotnik1,2. 1Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States; 2Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States; 3Wild Survivors, Suffolk, , United Kingdom

Elephants use sensory signals in multiple modalities when foraging and making social decisions. However, in anthropogenic environments, these behaviors may bring them closer to humans, resulting in human-elephant conflict (HEC). To better consider specific ‘problem’ elephants when mitigating HEC, we have designed a ‘targeted personality device (TPD)’ that can produce a suite of programmable, sensory stimuli. We will demonstrate the prototype that has a remote sensing camera, strobe light, odor sprayer, and speaker. First, in a wild population of elephants in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, we aim to assess individual variation in responses to odors deployed using the TPD to determine if they can be used as olfactory deterrents to discourage elephants from entering human-dominated landscapes. Second, we will use data we have collected on elephant responses to other sensory stimuli to program the TPD to emit different sensory stimuli based on an elephant’s behavioral profile. By tailoring the types and schedules of stimuli to specific personality traits of the local elephants, we can potentially produce new approaches to HEC mitigation that account for individual elephant variation.