Yes, I admit the title was chosen to be catchy. And for the comedy value. Sorry, just couldn't resist it. :) But contrary to what it suggests, no, elephants cannot send SMS messages (yet).

What this article is really about is another great SMS Alerting application, only a couple of days after the post about SMS alerts being used for safety notifications. So, the authorities in Kenya have decided to equip elephants with collars that contain SIM cards, and use virtual fences, by means of a positioning system, which allows them to track when an elephant has moved outside the fence. The smart collar then notifies the authorities via an SMS message, about the whereabouts of the stray elephant.

Tagging endangered species is a widely used approach for biologists, but this is the first time (I am aware of) that SMS alerts are used in order to notify the authorities of the location of a specific animal. This is especially important for elephants, as they often raid towns and cause a lot of destruction and havoc. People get injured, houses destroyed, so there is very good reason to want to get instant notification the moment when there is even a shadow of a doubt about an upcoming raid, or unexpected visit from a large friend.

This way, elephants can be quickly found and returned back to 'inside' their fence, so as to keep both them and the people in the villages healthy and happy, making it easier for them all to live together. What more do you want from a technology, that allows people and animals to co-exist more harmonically and in peace?

There is also a video report on this , just click on the video below to watch.