Kruger’s western boundary fence gets a makeover

The new sections of the Kruger National Park’s western fence currently being erected in the northern areas of the park will be very different to the electrical fence that has demarcated the edge of Kruger for decades. Three sections of the western fence are currently being replaced in areas where the elephants have been having a high impact on the electrical fence.

Multiple strands of ordinary wire strung between round hollow poles are being replaced with cables several centimetres thick, of the kind that hauls elevators up multi-story buildings. The weight of the cables means that they are attached to heavy-duty solid steel uprights, some of which began life as railway lines. In between the cables, barbed wire will be strung and the electrical strands that previously deterred animals will be a thing of the past. Although very different to the fence it is replacing, the new fence is modelled after the existing fence that separates Kruger from Mozambique.

One design difference is that the diamond mesh at the base of the fence with Mozambique is being replaced with barbed wire in the new western boundary fence, as the diamond mesh was regarded as having a high theft potential. While the old fence was flimsy but packed a punch in the form of a few thousands volts of electricity designed to keep the animals inside, the new fence will rely on its sheer strength to keep animals like elephants in. Spikes on the I-beam uprights will also discourage elephants from leaning on or scratching themselves on the poles.

The new cable fence will require significantly less maintenancethan the old electrical fence, but is more expensive. Although theold electrical fence design has been tried and tested and proven to work in a number of private nature conservation areas, Kruger’s fence has been plagued by human interference. A stream of refugees from Mozambique, and latterly from Zimbabwe, has repeatedly shorted out the electrical fence. Elephants soon learn that the fence does not always shock them and easily push it over, allowing other animals to follow in their wake.

The electrical fence has also been bedevilled by theft over the years. The solar panels and batteries that are used to provide the electric current in remote areas with no access to electricity have repeatedly been stolen. State vet Dr Dewald Keet says that since 2001, at least 36 solar panels have been stolen in the area between Phalaborwa and Punda Maria. The actual fence also attracts the attention of thieves –wire strands, round fence posts, steel droppers and other materials have all disappeared over the years.

Despite the new cable fence’s strengths, it will still have its weak points, one of which is common to all types of fencing – river crossings. Every season when rivers come down in flood, carrying speeding debris, fences are washed away and animals move through the gaps. So while the new fence will help solve some of the problems caused by human nature, mother nature will still have the last word.