The construction of reinforced concrete wire rope fencing in preventing human-elephant conflict in Peninsular Malaysia: An engineering perspective.

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) poses significant challenges especially in areas impacted with land development and habitat fragmentation. Inadequate management of HEC is one of the factors affecting conservation concern in elephant range countries, including Malaysia. In addressing this issue, conflict prevention strategies methods have been widely utilized by combining multiple strategies and techniques including the establishment of protected areas, physical exclusion methods, acoustic deterrents, domestication and translocation of elephants. This paper reviews current HEC mitigation practices addressing the Asian elephant in Peninsular Malaysia with an emphasis to the physical exclusion method of constructing reinforced concrete (RC) wire rope fencing in preventing elephants from entering agricultural lands and human settlements. Presently, elephant fencing generally adapt an integration of the electrical fencing system which understandably requires periodic maintenance as well as costly. This paper discusses the various design criteria that needs to be addressed from an engineering perspective to ensure adequate performance of an unelectrified RC wire rope fencing system, thus providing a more economical approach to address HEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]