GABIONS and STONE WALLS As elephants cannot climb anything higher than their chest, stone walls and gabions act as a strong physical barrier to keep them out of farms and compounds. These walls can be built around farmlands and compounds such as police stations as well as water tanks to protect against elephant damage and crop raids. If built correctly, the walls will be too high for the elephant to step or climb over, keeping elephants out. Their effectiveness in keeping elephants away depends on the wall’s height, thickness and stability.
Materials needed
Gabions Gabions are strong wire mesh baskets filled with rocks/stones/gravel and stacked together to form a wall. They are usually used to reinforce sandbanks for road construction. If they are built high enough to prevent elephants from climbing over, they can act as strong and durable walls for many years.
1.
taller and stronger the wall, the more TOP TIP The difficult it is for elephants to breach.
Thick protective gloves
Pliers
350kg of stones/ rocks/ gravel (7-15cm big)
(for approximately 100m in length)
Spade
Measuring tape
Galvanized steel pipes/wooden poles
Strong binding/ fence wire
Hammer
Approx. 500-900 gabion mesh baskets (2mX1mX1m)
Physical labour
Wheelbarrow