Finding solutions to mitigate Human-Elephant Conflicts around Luambe National Park
For the communities in the Luangwa Valley, living alongside elephants does not come without challenges. The giants are the main conflict species: at night they come into the fields and gardens and raid peoples’ crops, fruits and vegetables, which are an important part of their livelihoods. In some cases, such conflicts even result in injuries or loss of life.
To support the community of the Chitungulu Chiefdom in Eastern Zambia and mitigate human-elephant conflicts, we wanted to learn about methods that have shown to be effective. We joined Conservation South Luangwa for a demonstration of how the solar wire fences they are implementing work. These fences are commonly used in different parts of Africa to mitigate human-elephant conflicts. Once the elephants come to the fence and touch it, they receive an electric shock, just strong enough to make them turn away and not go into the fields.
How is a fence set up?
With a few materials, a simple but effective electric fence can be built: wooden poles, polywire, insulators, nails, a solar panel, an energizer, a battery and a solar charge controller are the basic ingredients to a powerful solution.
To implement the fences, we grouped neighbouring farmers together who would be inside the fence and benefit from its protection. A small (1 km), medium (3 km) and large (7 km) cluster fence were put up. However, the fences are only one part of the mitigation method – the farmers within the clusters are responsible for fence maintenance, taking care of the materials, and clearing the vegetation to ensure the appropriate voltage is maintained throughout the wires. Each cluster has a committee who oversees the process and is responsible for organising participants.
Assessing effectiveness
Additionally, we collect data on fence performance by providing the farmers with feedback forms which they need to fill in when elephants approach the fields: how many elephants were there? Did they touch the wire? Did they break the fence? These questions are extremely valuable to find out whether the fences are working and how to improve their design. The state of the fence at the time of the incident as well as the response taken are also important information to consider; if fence maintenance is poor and the voltage is low, it is likely that the fence will not work. Once there is an incursion, the incident should be reported to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and Nsanga Conservation and the type of response should be noted.
The first fences were set up in February 2026 by our local team members, and once the field season started in June, it was clear that well maintained fences are an effective deterrent against elephant incursions. Nevertheless, challenges remain: the larger the farmer cluster, the more difficult it is for farmers to organise and adequately maintain the fence. This shows us that splitting larger areas into smaller clusters is a more effective solution.
We have also been supporting local gardens that grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Evan and Wyson, the garden owners, also receive daily visits from elephants, who would eat from maize to pawpaws and bananas, unfortunately destroying many of their plants along the way. Since June, their gardens have been surrounded by a solar fence, and from all recorded elephant groups approaching the gardens, no successful entries were recorded.
Human population increases, elephants thrive, and challenges remain
The success of the fences is widely known in the area, and the demand for them by the local communities has increased. While we want to continue supporting the farmers and their livelihoods, before providing further fencing materials we are conducting feasibility and needs assessments. This way, we not only ensure the farming cluster sizes are manageable for the people but also leave enough space between fenced areas for elephants to move, avoiding further habitat fragmentation that could block the paths they have been using for hundreds of years.
