Effectiveness of Solar Fence in Reducing Human–Elephant Conflicts in Manchahalli Village, Mysuru, Karnataka, India

Human–elephant conflict is not a new issue in the state of Karnataka, India. Primary conflict involves loss of lives on both sides, loss of property and damage to crops. Solar fencing is considered to be the most effective way to mitigate the conflict between humans and elephants. An assessment on the effectiveness of solar-powered fencing was carried out in Manchahalli village, which is located adjacent to Bandipur National Park (BNP), Karnataka and is prone to frequent raids by elephants. Hence, this area was chosen as the study site. Field survey was conducted between March and April 2019, to estimate whether the installation of solar fencing had reduced the damage caused by elephants on the crops. During the survey, questions related to the following factors were considered: area of land owned by farmers, distance from the forest boundary to the croplands, types of crops grown, types of crops damaged, year of installation of solar fence, damage caused to the solar fence, methods used before the installation of solar fencing and the perceived effectiveness of the solar fence. Among the 30 croplands that were surveyed, majority were at less than 2 km from the forest, followed by others ranging between 1 and 1.5 km. Although solar fencing was not helpful in reducing the raids completely, it proved to be more effective than any other conventional method previously used.