"We didn't believe it would work, " says Mr. Longwa, the maize farmer in Mikumi.

WSJ: Elephants Now Think Twice About Midnight Snacks in Tanzania

Yet weary farmers in Mikumi village were ready to try alternatives to round-the-clock crop surveillance.

WSJ: Elephants Now Think Twice About Midnight Snacks in Tanzania

At more than 3, 000sqkm, Mikumi is the fourth largest national park in Tanzania.

BBC: Tanzania��s alternative to the Serengeti

Mikumi lies along a trade route that has connected the East African coast with huge inland lakes for hundreds of years.

BBC: Tanzania��s alternative to the Serengeti

Together, Selous and Mikumi create a protected ecosystem larger than Denmark.

BBC: Tanzania��s alternative to the Serengeti

With a major two-lane highway running through it, Mikumi National Park might be one of the only places in the world to offer views of wild animals and grassy savannahs for the price of a bus ticket.

BBC: Tanzania��s alternative to the Serengeti

Once inside the southern Tanzania park, the highway cannot be seen or heard, but it makes Mikumi one of the most accessible places in Tanzania to see lions, buffalo, hippopotamus, gazelles, elands, warthogs and yellow baboons (not to mention more than 400 species of birds).

BBC: Tanzania��s alternative to the Serengeti