Lucy King

Dr. Lucy King is a zoologist and conservation innovator whose work has influenced how rural communities across Africa and Asia coexist with elephants. King serves as the Coexistence Director for Save the Elephants and for the organization's Elephant Crisis Fund. She holds a first-class degree in zoology from Bristol University and an MSc in biology: integrative bioscience from Balliol College, Oxford University. King completed her DPhil degree in the Animal Behaviour Research Group at Oxford University, receiving the UNEP/CMS Thesis Award for her research on the interaction between the African elephant and the African honeybee and its potential application as an elephant deterrent.

King's research led to the discovery that elephants avoid honey bees, which inspired her to develop a beehive fencing system that reduces human-elephant conflict. She designed a fence made from interlinked beehives hung on poles with a trigger system that moves the hive if elephants touch it, creating a deterrent around farms. This method keeps 80 percent of elephants outside farm boundaries, while the bees pollinate crops and farmers can earn additional income by selling honey. The eco-friendly beehive fence system is now used in 19 countries across Africa and Asia.

King established the Elephants and Bees Research Center in Tsavo, which became Save the Elephants' Tsavo Human-Elephant Coexistence Center. She is a research associate with Oxford University's Department of Biology and a member of both the Kenya Elephant Forum and IUCN's African Elephant Specialist Group. King emphasizes the inclusion of women in conservation, providing education and opportunities for them to contribute to wildlife protection and community livelihoods. Her doctoral thesis, conducted in partnership with Save the Elephants and Disney's Animal Kingdom, was recognized with the UNEP/CMS Thesis Award from the United Nations Environment Program's Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species, as well as The Future for Nature Award and The St Andrews Prize for the Environment.

King developed the Human-Elephant Coexistence Toolbox manual for Save the Elephants, a comprehensive resource of methods and tools to help communities live with elephants. The toolbox includes her original beehive fence method and more than 80 other tools, and has been translated into multiple languages. Her TEDWomen talk has reached millions of viewers and has been recognized among the top TED talks. King's work combines scientific research, community engagement, and advocacy in the field of wildlife conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.