Should Wildlife Parks Be Fenced? We Studied 60 African Examples For An Answer

[Hoas]

Should wildlife parks be fenced? We studied 60 African examples for an answer

Nature reserve fences can protect wildlife and people, but they also break up natural landscapes, restrict animal movement, and affect nearby communities.

theconversation.com

Fences are among conservation’s most controversial interventions.

To some, they are essential for conserving wildlife, minimising encroachment, and preventing the type of conflict that happens when humans come into contact with wildlife.

To others, fences represent exclusion. They break the landscape up into pieces, prevent wild animals from moving freely over long distances and create tensions between protected areas and neighbouring communities.

These debates show that fences are more than just infrastructure – they represent a decision about the purpose of a protected area and the type of protected area a society wants to create.

We are a group of researchers who study how protected areas are governed and managed. We’ve been involved in research on protected area governance and management within the broader environment for many years. In our most recent study, we asked: does fencing shape how a park’s characteristics and functioning differ from the surrounding landscape?
To find out, we analysed how land is used and covered inside and outside the boundaries of 60 national parks across 17 countries south of the Equator. We looked at satellite images and compared parks that were fully fenced, partially fenced, and unfenced between 2020 and 2024.

We found that fully fenced parks were most different to the world just outside. Cropland and human settlements, roads and other developed areas were generally much more common outside the parks than inside. Natural cover, like trees and shrubs, was higher inside fully fenced parks such as the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa.


Continue reading.........

 

[grand veneur]

Should wildlife parks be fenced? We studied 60 African examples for an answer

Nature reserve fences can protect wildlife and people, but they also break up natural landscapes, restrict animal movement, and affect nearby communities.

theconversation.com

Fences are among conservation’s most controversial interventions.

To some, they are essential for conserving wildlife, minimising encroachment, and preventing the type of conflict that happens when humans come into contact with wildlife.

To others, fences represent exclusion. They break the landscape up into pieces, prevent wild animals from moving freely over long distances and create tensions between protected areas and neighbouring communities.

These debates show that fences are more than just infrastructure – they represent a decision about the purpose of a protected area and the type of protected area a society wants to create.

We are a group of researchers who study how protected areas are governed and managed. We’ve been involved in research on protected area governance and management within the broader environment for many years. In our most recent study, we asked: does fencing shape how a park’s characteristics and functioning differ from the surrounding landscape?
To find out, we analysed how land is used and covered inside and outside the boundaries of 60 national parks across 17 countries south of the Equator. We looked at satellite images and compared parks that were fully fenced, partially fenced, and unfenced between 2020 and 2024.

We found that fully fenced parks were most different to the world just outside. Cropland and human settlements, roads and other developed areas were generally much more common outside the parks than inside. Natural cover, like trees and shrubs, was higher inside fully fenced parks such as the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa.


Continue reading.........


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"To others, fences represent exclusion. They break the landscape up into pieces, prevent wild animals from moving freely over long distances and create tensions between protected areas and neighbouring communities."

Based on what I was recently told during a hunt in the Limpopo area, this is not true. There are a lot of animals moving between the fences. Warthogs dig holes under the fences, which are used by smaller antelopes. Larger antelopes jump over the fences, and buffalo fight together from both sides their way through them until they are destroyed, allowing passage for a short time. I don't know if all of this is true. These hunting grounds are not really to my liking, but it is still something what to think about wether all is true.

 

[steve white]

When I hunted in Dande 25 yrs ago, an elephant proof fence had been provided to keep elephant from raiding crops in the Guruve area. THE LOCALS TORE HOLES IN IT because the gate was too far from where someone lived who didn't like the round trip distance, having to walk to the gate, then after obtaining water, back to the gate and back to home. So it defeated the whole purpose.

 

[grand veneur]

Despite repeatedly reading the article, I still don't understand what the best solution is. For example, the original long-distance migrations of elephants, one of the main problem animals, can never be restored due to human settlement. Fences does not make rare trees in a national park any safer, as the article among other things suggests, because the damage caused by fenced-in elephants will greatly increase. The Krüger National Park provides a good example of this. You only need to look at the fenced plots to see where there are elephants and where there are not. Poaching, above all Rhinos, is also a problem, as it is far from being under control. A fence is still better than nothing. The hybrid park approach seems to me to be rather illusory.

 

[Philip Glass]

When I hunted in Dande 25 yrs ago, an elephant proof fence had been provided to keep elephant from raiding crops in the Guruve area. THE LOCALS TORE HOLES IN IT because the gate was too far from where someone lived who didn't like the round trip distance, having to walk to the gate, then after obtaining water, back to the gate and back to home. So it defeated the whole purpose.

Yea and I've seen them take a fence down and use the wire and posts around their huts or sell the steel.

 

[grand veneur]

In Africa, for many reasons, national parks need to be fenced in, and even better than they already are, if they are to be preserved.

 

[Pheroze]

"To others, fences represent exclusion. They break the landscape up into pieces, prevent wild animals from moving freely over long distances and create tensions between protected areas and neighbouring communities."

Based on what I was recently told during a hunt in the Limpopo area, this is not true. There are a lot of animals moving between the fences. Warthogs dig holes under the fences, which are used by smaller antelopes. Larger antelopes jump over the fences, and buffalo fight together from both sides their way through them until they are destroyed, allowing passage for a short time. I don't know if all of this is true. These hunting grounds are not really to my liking, but it is still something what to think about wether all is true.

That was my experience in Limpopo as well. We saw many examples of wildlife coming through the fence abutting Kruger.

 

[steve white]

Well, if the parks are well fenced, how are we supposed to hunt elephant when they wander across the park line into concessions? lol

 

[grand veneur]

Well, if the parks are well fenced, how are we supposed to hunt elephant when they wander across the park line into concessions? lol

From personal experience, I know what it is about, but nowadays you don't need to wait at the fence anymore. There are plenty of opportunities in South Africa to shoot an elephant behind the fence.

 

[Hagler.450Ex]

Yea and I've seen them take a fence down and use the wire and posts around their huts or sell the steel., it will never change.

Wire in Africa is not safe and never will be. I've said it for decades. Also, anything built or constructed to serve a purpose based on common sense will have a short life expectancy.

 

[coreydb]

I often think about this actually. This is a truly double-edged sword. What is done to keep the wildlife in the Parks and the poachers out? (rhetorical question) Either solution pisses off one group of people.