Electric fence saves Buuri residents from elephant invasions

The Mutunyi community in Buuri, Meru county, is happy after the commissioning of a 2.5km electric fence to deter elephants from destroying their farms as well as killing and injuring people.

Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza thanked the Lewa Safari Marathon for funding the project, adding that it was an initiative that marked a significant milestone in wildlife conservation efforts.

She said the construction of the fence underscored a collaborative effort between Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the local community to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

“With elephants often encroaching into human settlements, posing threats to lives and livelihoods, installation of the electric elephant fence serves as a crucial step towards fostering coexistence between humans and wildlife,” Governor Mwangaza said.

Lewa’s chief programmes officer John Kinoti said one of the responsibilities they have taken seriously as a conservation group is building partnerships and the construction of the fence was a sign of good partnerships that they have with communities and the government of Meru.

“We are building partnerships for people in terms of their livelihood enhancement because Mutunyi is an agricultural community and having an electric fence helps to mitigate human-wildlife conflict,” Kinoti said.

The conservancy launched registration for the June 29 marathon to celebrate 25 years with the clarion call of connecting generations.

“We are saying that it is time to connect generations and one way to celebrate this is that we have done an electric fence that is going to connect generations of young to old people in terms of farming and that is the reason we are calling on everyone to support us in this marathon,” Kinoti said.

Lawrence Riungu, the community development programmes officer at Lewa Conservancy, said the Mutunyi community had for years struggled to deter elephants from destroying their crops in vain but through the support of the Lewa Safari Marathon Fund for the community in the 2022-2023 financial year, it has been possible.

 Since the completion of the fence in December last year, Riungu added, the farmers returned to their farms and had a bumper harvest from the last season’s rains.

“I am happy to continue supporting the community on development projects so it can see the value and the benefits of what they do daily,” said Mr Riungu.

Mutunyi community chairman David Mwiti said that in the past they had serious challenges emanating from the invasion of elephants, which had led to people abandoning their farms and relocating to the markets.

They tried to construct a stone fence along the routes that elephants use in vain, until they got a partnership with Lewa Conservancy.

“When Lewa came in, they sat down with the community’s development committee where we agreed that constructing an electric fence to deter elephants from invading our farms was a priority. The community participated in the project by providing labour while the conservancy gave us the required materials,” Mwiti said.

He said with the establishment of the fence, the community members can walk around safely and sleep comfortably.

Gladys Nkatha said they were happy that they could comfortably utilise their farms and produce adequate food for both consumption and commercial purposes.

“Since our relocation to this area in 1986, we have been having conflicts with elephants which made it impossible for us to do any crop production in our farms as they would eventually be destroyed by elephants,” she said.

“At the moment, we can now get back to our farms and stop leasing farms in other areas.”