On average, 800-1000 elephants die every year around the world due to intense human-elephant conflict. Any conservation strategy that has the potential to succeed must include efforts to bridge the gap between people and the wildlife with which they share their land, and through the participation and cooperation of the rural people whose lives it will invariably affect. This is clearly illustrated by third world farmers epitomised by those living in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia who have a particularly hard time trying to grow crops in the dry season. In addition to a lack of water, they have to deal with marauding animals that are looking for food. Elephants, hippo and buffalo routinely raid crops, trampling them in the process and ruining the harvest. This has forced farmers to abandon dry season farming and resort to illegal game hunting to provide food for their families.
Electric fences and other barriers to prevent movement of elephants onto arable land are increasingly important conservation tools in Africa, as elephant populations become isolated by areas of increasing human settlement. In attempts to reduce this many different types of elephant barriers have been built over the last 30 years. Of the deterrent strategies explored, only electrical fencing reduced elephant damage at the community level to satisfactory proportions
