NZ-made fences protect elephants, monkeys, bears and camels

Gallagher fencing technology being used to create temporary holding pens for camels in the desert in Saudi Arabia. Photo / Supplied

While Kiwi farmers use electric fences to keep their stock in, around the globe the same technology is used to keep exotic animals out.

New Zealand-made electric fencing is being used in novel ways worldwide, from protecting elephants in Sri Lanka, to monkey control in Saudi Arabia.

Along with the more traditional animal containment applications, animal exclusion had become a growing part of Gallagher's electric fencing business.

"Our business is effectively made up of two halves. The animal containment side that everyone knows about, and animal exclusion which is typically about keeping wild animals out," Gallagher business development manager, animal management, Owen Boyes said.

Excluding exotic animals from villages and homes kept both the animals and local residents safe.

In Japan more than 50 per cent of the company's business was directed toward providing electric fencing to keep wild deer and pigs out of farmers' crops.

In Sri Lanka electric fencing was used to create hundreds of kilometres of elephant corridors, to provide a safe passage for the migrating herds around villages in the Sri Lankan bush.

Creating safe migration passages for elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo / Supplied

"The elephants often end up encountering the villages as they migrate, and they make a huge mess of the crops and they are difficult to move on. The electric fences keep both the crops and the villagers safe," Boyes said.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia there was an increasing market for electric fencing to keep camels contained and monkeys out of homes.

Gallagher supplied temporary electric fencing to help manage camels in the Saudi desert, Boyes said.

"Camel owners hold these camels out in the desert on a temporary basis. We developed a solution for them to put electrics around the temporary holding pens for the camels."

The company's electric fences were also used on the top of walls surrounding Saudi Arabian homes to keep monkeys out, Boyes said.

"Monkeys in the cities are a real problem, getting into people's yards. They're difficult to keep out because they're such good climbers, and they're smart. The fences help to keep the monkeys out of trouble."

The fences had even made it to inner Mongolia, where they were used to protect the huts of migrating villagers from bears.

"They leave the huts vacant once the snow arrives but then the bears come, so they put up temporary electric fencing so the bears can't break in and create a mess looking for food."

Safari parks in Vietnam also used the fences to separate animal groups and provide a safe route for people to drive through in their vehicles.

While these exotic applications were a world away from a paddock of livestock in New Zealand, the principles remained the same, Boyes said.

"People want safe and reliable animal control whether it's for containment or exclusion and there is really no difference whether that's an elephant in Sri Lanka or a dairy cow in the Waikato."