Our friends at Wildlife Conservation Foundation in India recently sent us an update to their “Community Based Solar Fence to Mitigate Elephant-Human-Wildlife Conflict and Promote Co-existence” project. They have completed the first phase of 2 kilometers (2000 meters) of solar fencing. Solar panel installation, an alternate power source, energizer and testing has also been completed. Soon field staff will be training and passing off fence operations to selected beneficiary families and there may be an additional kilometer of fence that could be built soon!
Community Fencing near Bandipur National Park, India
Since 2021, AES has supported a project to set up a community power fence for farmers living adjacent to Bandipur National Park in India. This project was implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Foundation.
Battery pack and fencing to protect farm crops
This farming community near Bandipur National Park is now able to successfully harvest their crops because elephants in the area no longer raid due to the fencing. Helping local communities protect their crops develops increased tolerance of wildlife. Since this project started, there have been no elephant deaths due to electrocution and no human deaths due to elephants reported.
Beneficiaries of the community fencing
Due to the success of this project and commitment of the local communities, another round of funding for this project was recently approved. Thanks to the efforts of the Wildlife Conservation Foundation and your support farmers in Bandipur, India are finding better ways to coexist with elephants.
Hands-On Laboratory Training in Wildlife Disease Investigation
Workshop participants in Nepal
AES has long supported wildlife veterinary work in Asia. In November, Asian Elephant Support was proud to support two weeklong workshops. The Hands-On Laboratory Training in Wildlife Disease Investigation workshop was held in two locations. The first training was held at the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), Nepal Wildlife Hospital in Chitwan National Park under the guidance of Dr. Amir Sadaula. Attendance consisted of wildlife veterinarians from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The second training was held at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, India, under the guidance of Dr. Arun Zachariah. This session hosted wildlife veterinarians from India, Lao PDR, and Sri Lanka. Laboratory work is an extremely important component of identifying and monitoring diseases, as well as for use in wildlife crime forensics. These trainings offered new opportunities for wildlife veterinarians to share experiences and learn new techniques.
We are grateful to our Nepal partner, Ntnc Bcc, our India partners, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and Living In Fine Environment Trust-India, for their assistance in organizing and hosting the trainings, and to the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund of USFWS International Affairs for support. And a very big thank you to AES consultant, Heidi Riddle, for her contributions to these two events!
AES Consultant, Heidi Riddle, along with other workshop participants in India