“I don’t dare to go out. I’m concerned,” a villager expressed, having no other alternative but to stay at home.

          Tensions arise in a village(named village X) in Yunnan, China, amid overlapping living spaces between villagers and Asian elephants. These elephants, mainly present in Pu’er, Yunan province, China, and less in Xishuangbanna and Lincang, constantly roam around searching for food. 

          Under the guidance of the oldest and most experienced elephant, elephants move in groups. However, these groups don’t contain adult males driven out once they are sexually mature. Adventuring out on their own for the first time, the newly nomadic elephants sometimes form coalitions and stick close to the leading group searching for breeding opportunities. These male elephants are moody and dangerous and are the main cause of threats to others.

          Why are there elephants present in village X specifically? From the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Mr. Cao explained four vital components that elephants look for in an area: food, water, a safe and concealed place, and salt licks (mineral salts deposits used by animals to supplement their nutrition). Elephants will treat the area as a foraging ground if it meets the first three requirements, which village X has.

          Conflicts between villagers and elephants are amplified by village X’s lack of wealth and strict government policies. According to the villagers, Village X comprises 14 villager groups, 2400 people, and 401 families who have just alleviated poverty. These villagers have a relatively low income, mostly coming from tea plantations. When the 40 elephants lingering in nearby forests search for food, they enter the village, damaging tea plants and farmland. In extreme cases, they even barge into homes and endanger the lives of villagers, who have already lost their source of income. The village’s economic development is disrupted, but the villagers can’t stop it. According to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife, it is against the law to hurt elephants. Consequently, the elephants have wreaked havoc and have become increasingly rampant.     

Pulse-type electric fence: Hope or danger?

          There are many possible measures to prevent elephants. One example is the pulse-type electric fence. By constructing electric wires that enclose an area in need of protection, villagers can deter elephants from passing through. This phenomenon relates to how the electric fence functions — comprised of 1.4-meter-tall pillars in 4-meter intervals with two layers of wires running through them, electric fences transmit 10000-volt pulses every 1.5 seconds. The wires, formed using intertwined metal and plastic, shock objects in contact(Sinha, 2020). Since each pulse is short and sharp, electric fences aren’t powerful enough to harm elephants. However, they are strong enough to induce fear and rely solely on storable solar power. 

          The benefits of electric fences are their immediate effects, wide acceptance, and low cost. “Just like using a lighter, when the electric fences hit the elephants, they get scared,” Mr. Yuan, who has worked in electric fence-related work for two years, stated, “these elephants disappeared quickly without a trace after just one shock.”

          An example of the immediate effects of electric fences happened recently in another village, where 14 elephants had caused the death of 6 people and hundreds of millions in economic loss. Mr. Yuan recalled, “the government told me to help construct electric fences. Once finished, the elephants left in a week, allowing the villagers to relax”. The villagers significantly appreciated the electric fences and went on to state that the elephants never returned. As can be seen, electric fences have an immediate impact and defer elephants for long periods.

          Another benefit is its low cost. While other villages have already installed electric fences, villagers from village X think electric fences could be expensive. In fact, with a price ranging between 4000 RMB to 60000 RMB (620 USD to 9300 USD) per kilometer, villagers can choose the cheaper materials if necessary, meaning that electric fences are affordable.

          However, electric fences could be breached by elephants. Mr. Yuan stated that there had been cases where elephants have used tree branches to touch the wires in an attempt to get through, although never successful. As time passes on, the intelligence of elephants may lead them to find a loophole in the electric fences.

          In addition, electric fences are illegal when not permitted by the government because electricity leakage can lead to elephant and villager fatalities. Between 2010 and 2018 in Assam, India, hundreds of people and elephants are hurt or killed every year due to electric fences being put up without permission. Workers from a natural reserve inhabited by elephants in Xishuangbanna, China, have expressed similar concerns.

Elephant “canteen”: the long-term ecological restoration plan

          Mr. Yang, who worked in the natural reserve inhabited by elephants in Xishuangbanna, China, anxiously stated, “private electric fences may not only harm elephants physically but mentally as well. When elephants come into contact with the electric fences, they get scared and run away. This interaction induces psychological damages, causing elephants to fear anything that looks similar to wires in the wild.”

          Considering the disadvantages of electric fences, the government has developed another solution to ease tensions between the villagers and elephants — an elephant “canteen”. Attracting elephants by providing numerous crops in a separate sizeable area that elephants enjoy eating, an elephant “canteen” reduces the economic impact on villagers.

          There are numerous benefits to the elephant “canteen”. By attracting elephants away from villages, an elephant “canteen” does not directly hurt elephants, reducing the possibility of vengeance. Furthermore, the government would most likely fund the elephant “canteen” entirely due to its high cost. Lastly, an elephant “canteen” can adjust the diet of elephants, which may be beneficial in the long term. Carefully modifying the types of vegetables available to elephants, the government can reduce elephants’ reliance on the villagers’ crops.

          However, the elephant “canteen” also has its shortcomings. While the government usually funds the project, villagers don’t have much influence since it is costly and time-consuming. The money required to set up and maintain the elephant “canteen” is enormous as elephants have a huge appetite(a 2-kilometer squared area needs 3.69 million RMB or around 571000 USD). Furthermore, the entire planning and construction process requires many approvals, which may take years to complete. During this time, new data may need to be taken into consideration, further complicating the matter. The costs and time accompanying the elephant “canteen” construction mean that only the government or large non-government organizations can afford to participate.

          Aside from money and time constraints, there are other factors to consider as well. For example, the elephant “canteen” may have the reverse effect in changing the elephants’ diet by increasing their reliance on unnaturally bunched crops. Elephants may also choose to ignore the elephant “canteen” entirely as well. Moreover, careful consideration for the elephant “canteen” must be taken as it also needs to contain natural salt licks as artificial ones don’t hold the same diversity.

          In practice, the elephant “canteen” acts as a buffer. Villagers not only plant crops in their fields but in the elephant “canteen” as well. Because the elephant “canteen” is mostly closer to the natural reserves, when the elephants migrate, they reach the elephant “canteen” first, winning some time for the villagers to harvest their crops. However, many issues soon surfaced when other places adopted the use of the elephant “canteen”. First of all, the abundance of food has led the elephants to become picky. For example, elephants used to eat whole corns but have recently only eaten the corncob. Finishing their food quickly, elephants may be incentivized to eat the villagers’ crops elsewhere. Secondly, to increase efficiency when eating, elephants spread out unpredictably with a chance of going to a village. Therefore, the elephant “canteen” may not have its desired effect. To overcome these problems, the government has increasingly moved towards creating “attractive habitats” for elephants.

Electric fence or elephant “canteen” — which is better?

          Summarising what was said earlier, electric fences are constructed quicker and require less money (although the government usually funds an elephant “canteen”), making them more practical. In addition, villagers don’t even have to enclose their land entirely. In another village nearby, electric fences are only built on the elephants’ side, decreasing the cost while remaining effective. Yet, electric fences may be broken through given enough time and may cause adverse psychological effects on elephants. In contrast, an elephant “canteen” is more of a long-term solution. It won’t directly hurt elephants, reducing the chance for vengeance while also providing an opportunity to alter elephants’ diets. However, an elephant “canteen” is costly. Therefore, villagers are unlikely to afford one and rely on the government, who may have other agendas to prioritize.

          Furthermore, village X’s current situation is severe. According to local villager Mr. Lee, somewhere in the first half of 2021, an older man accidentally encountered an elephant when motorcycling and was stepped over. His body was later found dead lying on the road. Therefore, village X needs to adopt an immediate solution to prevent elephants from causing further casualties. While buying and installing electric fences requires around a week, an elephant “canteen” requires years of planning and researching. As a result, electric fences are more suitable because they are practical, reliable, and quick to construct. 

          However, there are caveats when using electric fences. Firstly, villagers must maintain the electric fences regularly. According to Mr. Yuan, villagers need to check up every 2 – 3 days to ensure that the grass and tree branches near the electric fences aren’t causing issues in dry seasons. In rainy seasons, the required check-up frequency becomes daily. Knowing that the requirements for maintenance are high, Mr. Yuan suggested that the villagers should participate in the construction of electric fences so that they understand how it works and how to protect it.

          “We will provide villagers a higher income to incentivize them to help construct their electric fences,” Mr. Yuan proposed, “through their participation, villagers who have learned the necessary skills involved with electric fences can fix any breakdown, saving the cost to employ maintenance professionals.”  

          Secondly, village X must take into account the period in which the electric fence remains effective. Much like what was said before, as time passes, elephants become increasingly likely to find a way to get through electric fences. For example, African elephants in Africa have been seen using Acacia trees to damage electric fences and pass through, according to Mr. Liu, who also worked in the natural reserve inhabited by elephants in Xishuangbanna, China. However, Mr. Cao rebutted that this may have been because the elephants were very attracted to the food enclosed by electric fences. If the villagers from village X only surround their houses (without crops) with electric fences, the elephants may not have the incentive to try to intrude.

          In conclusion, in the short term, electric fences are more effective. However, they may become less reliable over time and cause elephants to be mentally scarred. Therefore, in the long term, an elephant "canteen" would likely be better as it advocates a healthy and sustainable relationship between humans and elephants. The only concern for an elephant "canteen" is that it requires a lot of funding. 

          Which solution is better? Perhaps, just like what Mr. Cao said, “only time will tell.”

Appendix:

1.     Sinha, A., 2020. How solar-powered fences mitigated human-elephant conflict in Assam. [online] Downtoearth.org.in. Available at: <downtoearth.org.in/blog/wildlife-biodiversity/how-solar-powered-fences-mitigated-human-elephant-conflict-in-assam-71732>

2.     Li, Z.Y. (2012). Forest Inventory and Planning. Effects of Asian Elephant Food Source Bases on Alleviating Human-elephant Conflict, 37(5), 81-84.