Uganda: an electric anti-poaching initiative succeeds in preserving wildlife

Zikulabe Isaac is a local farmer with a 3-acre onions, cotton and coffee plantation, which shares the fence with the park. Before it was erected in 2018, they used to sleep outside their homes guarding the crops against game, uncertain of their harvests but now he can count foreseen profits from his produce.

“It is as if we not bordering the park. The government helped us with this electric fence. When these wild animals attempt to enter our gardens, they run back”

The line runs for 43.8 kilometers and it is being extended further with a growing population and encroachment into gazetted conservation areas, the wild animals have very little space to live.

“We are now going towards the DRC boarder. And once this is sealed it will really address this issue of crop raiding in these areas. OMITTED So we see this as a big opportunity for positive living between the population and the park” says Pontius Ezuma , chef warden of the Queen Elizabeth conservation area. 

 Since the initiative was introduced three years ago, the human-wildlife contact has been limited especially with elephants.

The idea to separate these habitats was by Space for Giants  that partnered with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to construct the fence. 

"This electric fence may be the answer to crop raids and poaching now, but with their intelligence the animals are already learning how to maneuver around the perimeter, this means that the government must constantly think about new ways of protecting farms, wildlife and human beings. Raziah Athman, for Africanews, at the Queen Elizabeth national park in Uganda"