A wild elephant seen in Dinh Quan district (Source: VNA)Dong Nai (VNA) – Residents in Vinh Cuu and Dinh Quan districts, the southern province ofDong Nai, have proposed local authority construct additional 20 kilometres ofelectric fence to prevent wild elephants from wandering into residential areas.
Earlier, a 50km-long and 2.2m-high fence was set up along Vinh Cuu district’sMa Da and Phu Ly communes and Dinh Quan district’s Thanh Son commune.
The fence use solar energy at low voltage of 4.5-14 kV. Electricity isregularly switched on and off every one third of a second, which helps keep theelephants at bay while not inflicting harm on them.
Along the fence, there are many gates for local residents to pass through.
Since the fence was put into operation in July last year, there have been a reducingnumber of elephants’ appearance, attack and destruction of crops of localfarms.
However, there’s still space for elephants to enter residential areas anddamage local crops as the electric fence has not been erected in the last 20kilometres of the corridor between the residential area and wile elephants’original habitat.
The fence is part of a project on urgent conservation of wild elephants in DongNai for 2014-2020.
At a mid-term conference to review the project held in Dong Nai on January 26, DangHuy Huynh, Chairman of the Vietnam Zoological Society, stressed the need tocompete the fence and raise public awareness of elephant conservation andensure that local people can live in harmony with wild elephants.
Meanwhile, Cao Chi Cong, Deputy General of the Vietnam Administration ofForestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, asked localauthority to effectively use, maintain the electric fence and construct thelast 20 kilometres of fence to protect wild elephants.
Dong Nai province’s forest is currently home to 16 wild elephants. - VNA
VNA
