Bangkok Post: CONSERVATION-Electric fence to be built at wildlife park

Electric fence to be built at wildlife park

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

A solar-powered electric fence will be built around part of the Sap Langka Wildlife Sanctuary in Lop Buri province in an effort to keep wild animals, including elephants, out of nearby farmland.

It is the first time this strategy has been tried at a wildlife park in Thailand.

The 11-kilometre fence is part of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's (Egat) Return Elephants to the Forest campaign to mark the 80th birthday of His Majesty the King.

The fence will carry a current of 6,500 volts, enough to give wildlife a shock and warn them off but not enough to pose any danger to them, an Egat statement said.

The nine-million-baht project is expected to be operational by October.

''We use solar cells as the main power source as it is energy saving, environmentally friendly power with no air or noise pollution. It is expected the system will have an operating life of over 20 years,'' the statement said.

''There is also a back-up system to generate electric current all day long.''

Sap Langka was picked because the space between two mountains was suitable for the fence's construction.

The 98,000-rai sanctuary is no longer home to wild elephants, but Egat said it planned to release some back into the wild in Sap Langka and other national parks later this year.

Wildlife Conservation Office chief Samart Sumanochitraporn welcomed the project, saying it would help bring harmony to relations between wild animals and villagers.

Sap Langka wildlife park was once home to all manner of animals including brow-antlered deer, hog deer and elephants.

About 30 years ago much of the area was converted into farmland by local people, causing a sharp fall in the wildlife population.

Some animals, such as elephants, disappeared from the area altogether.

The government later declared the area a wildlife sanctuary