Pangolin Threats From Electric Fences in Africa
Temminck's ground pangolin navigating low vegetation near a game farm perimeter fence, Limpopo province.
Across South Africa's game farms, wildlife estates and communal conservancies, electric perimeter fencing has become almost universal. It keeps predators in, livestock contained and poachers deterred. But the same infrastructure that protects one threatened species can silently kill another. For the ground pangolin, Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii), the electric fence has become one of the most lethal hazards in a landscape already crowded with threats.
Conservation data gathered over the past decade by organisations including the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Pangolin Programme and the specialist rescue network Pangolin Africa consistently show that electric fence electrocution is one of the leading documented causes of pangolin death in southern Africa, ranking alongside poaching and, on intensively managed game properties, very likely exceeding natural predation. Understanding precisely why pangolins are so vulnerable, and what landowners can do about it, is now a conservation priority.
Why Pangolins Are Especially Vulnerable to Electric Fences
Most animals that encounter a live electric strand receive a brief shock, recoil and retreat. Pangolins do the opposite. The ground pangolin's primary and deeply ingrained defence against any perceived threat is to curl into a tight, overlapping ball, tucking its head, limbs and tail beneath the outer layer of its large keratin scales. This behaviour evolved over millions of years as effective protection against lions, leopards and hyenas. Against an electric fence, it is fatal.
When a pangolin touches a live strand and curls in response to the shock, its body clamps around the wire. The contact area increases rather than decreases. The animal is then held in sustained contact with the current for as long as it remains curled, which can be minutes. Even a fence operating within legal voltage limits delivers enough continuous energy to cause cardiac arrest and internal organ damage during a prolonged clamping event.
The Role of Keratin Scales
Pangolin scales are composed of hardened keratin, the same protein found in human fingernails. Dry keratin is a poor conductor of electricity, but pangolins are active at night when ambient humidity is high and dew is forming on vegetation and on the animals themselves. Damp scales dramatically reduce surface resistance. Combined with the moist skin between and beneath the scales, a pangolin that has been foraging through wet grass arrives at a fence in a near-ideal condition for maximum current transfer.
Larger game species such as kudu, impala or nyala have thick, dry skin and greater body mass, which spreads the electrical load and reduces the current density through vital organs. A pangolin weighing between five and eighteen kilograms has neither the body mass buffer nor the dry insulating hide that protects other game from the same fence.
Nocturnal Movement Patterns and Fence Line Crossings
Ground pangolins are strictly nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage across home ranges that research in South Africa's Lowveld and Limpopo province has measured at between 5 and 25 square kilometres for adult males. Within that range, individuals follow regular foraging circuits, returning to productive termite mounds on successive nights. These circuits do not stop at fence lines. A pangolin that has historically crossed a boundary before fencing was installed will continue to attempt the same crossing, unaware that the low strand it navigates beneath or through now carries several thousand volts.
This predictability is documented in tracking studies. Animals equipped with GPS transmitters have been found deceased at fence lines they had crossed dozens of times before, killed on the night that a newly energised or upgraded fence was switched on. To learn more about how these nocturnal foraging patterns develop, see our article on pangolin nocturnal behaviour explained.
The Scale of the Problem on South African Game Farms
South Africa has one of the highest concentrations of electrified perimeter fencing of any country in the world. Game farm proliferation since the 1990s, combined with wildlife estate development along the edges of protected areas in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, has resulted in a fragmented landscape divided by tens of thousands of kilometres of electrified game fence. Many of these fences are multi-strand designs energised by high-output energisers carrying between 5,000 and 10,000 volts.
Standard game fence designs typically include a bottom strand set as low as 15 to 20 centimetres above the soil surface. This height is intended to prevent small predators and warthogs from pushing under the fence. For a ground pangolin travelling at its characteristic low, shuffling gait with its belly close to the ground, the bottom strand is the first point of contact and often the only one it reaches before the curling reflex is triggered.
"Electric fence electrocution is not a peripheral risk for pangolins on fenced properties. In many landscapes, it is the single greatest non-poaching threat to adult survival, and the combination of the two is placing enormous pressure on an already fragile population."
Fence Height and Design Features That Increase Risk
Several specific fence configurations are particularly dangerous to pangolins. The lowest electrified strand set below 30 centimetres is the primary risk factor. Multi-strand designs where all strands carry current, including the bottom strand, eliminate any possibility of safe passage at ground level. High-output energisers that sustain current above 8,000 volts compound the risk, as does poor earth-stake installation that results in inconsistent shocking, which may cause the animal to pause and investigate rather than move through quickly.
Older fence designs installed primarily for livestock often have strands set at lower heights than modern game fences, and these legacy structures in areas where game farms have expanded over former cattle land are especially problematic. Inadequate vegetation management beneath fence lines, which allows grass and shrubs to earth the fence and drain power, sometimes prompts landowners to increase energiser output, raising the lethal potential further.
Legal Protection and the TOPS Framework
Temminck's ground pangolin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is classified as a Specially Protected species under South Africa's Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) regulations, promulgated under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004. It is illegal to kill, capture, disturb or harm a pangolin by any means, including electric fencing, regardless of intent. Landowners are not immune from regulatory scrutiny on the basis that a death was accidental if their infrastructure is found to represent an unreasonable risk to a protected species.
Penalties under NEMBA TOPS regulations can include substantial fines and potential criminal prosecution. Beyond the legal dimension, landowners on properties with confirmed pangolin presence carry a significant conservation responsibility. With South Africa's ground pangolin population already under severe pressure from poaching for the traditional medicine trade, every adult death from a preventable fence incident removes an animal that may have been years away from replacement through natural breeding. For context on pangolin reproduction rates and why population recovery is slow, see our article on pangolin mating season in South Africa.
Wildlife-Friendly Fencing Modifications
The good news is that the most effective modifications to reduce pangolin mortality are neither expensive nor technically difficult. They require awareness, modest adjustment and, in some cases, modest cost.
Raising the bottom electrified strand to a minimum of 30 centimetres above ground level is the single highest-impact change a landowner can make. At this height, a foraging pangolin can pass beneath the lowest strand without making contact. Where complete raising of the bottom strand is not feasible because of terrain or livestock requirements, replacing the bottom one or two strands with insulated wire or inert cable achieves a similar result in high-risk crossing areas.
Some landowners in pangolin-monitored areas have begun installing dedicated wildlife underpasses at confirmed crossing points, essentially a short section of fence where the bottom strands are permanently switched off and a physical guide panel channels small wildlife through a safe gap. This approach, championed by pangolin monitoring programmes working with private landowners in the Balule Nature Reserve and the broader Greater Kruger landscape, has demonstrated measurable reductions in fence-related mortality.
Energiser output audits are recommended during any fence upgrade or annual fence inspection. Many properties operate energisers set far in excess of what is actually needed to deter the target species. Reducing energiser output to the minimum effective voltage for the primary purpose of the fence costs nothing and reduces lethal risk across the board.
What Landowners Can Do: Step-by-Step
This is the most impactful single change. Pangolins travel low and contact the bottom strand first. A 30 cm clearance allows a foraging animal to pass beneath without contact in most terrain. On uneven ground, measure from the lowest soil point in each section.
In areas where raising the bottom strand is impractical, substitute the lowest live strand with a non-electrified cable across the section. Mark these sections on your fence map and check them during regular patrols to ensure they have not been inadvertently reconnected to the energiser.
Have your energiser tested by a certified electrician or fencing contractor. If the joule output significantly exceeds the minimum effective level for your primary deterrent species, reduce it. Overpowered fences are not more effective at deterrence but are substantially more lethal to small non-target wildlife.
If your property has pangolin presence confirmed by camera trap, tracker or ranger sighting, identify the likely fence crossing areas by surveying for tracks, scale impressions in soft soil, and termite mound density along the fence line. Create safe passage modifications at these points as a priority.
Ensure every member of your farm or estate team can recognise a pangolin, understands that handling without authorisation is illegal, and has the following contacts saved: Pangolin Africa emergency line, your provincial wildlife veterinarian, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Pangolin Programme. Post the numbers prominently in the ranger station and farm office.
If a pangolin is found injured or deceased near a fence, switch off the energiser before approaching. Do not unroll a curled, live animal by force. Photograph the animal and fence from multiple angles, record GPS coordinates, and contact your wildlife vet or Pangolin Africa immediately. Prompt reporting contributes to national mortality data that drives policy and fence design standards.
If You Find an Injured Pangolin
A pangolin found near a fence line may be alive even if curled and unresponsive. Electric shock causes muscle tetany and cardiovascular disruption that can leave an animal in a comatose-like state for some time. Before concluding the animal is dead, switch off the fence energiser, move away from the fence to give the animal space, and call for professional help immediately.
The primary contact for pangolin emergencies in South Africa is Pangolin Africa, which coordinates a network of trained handlers and wildlife veterinarians across the country. The Endangered Wildlife Trust's Pangolin Programme also maintains an emergency contact channel. In KwaZulu-Natal, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife operates a dedicated wildlife emergency line. Each province's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) also has a permit office that can direct callers to registered wildlife veterinarians. Do not attempt to hand-raise or feed an injured pangolin, and do not transport it in a confined container without veterinary guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are pangolins more vulnerable to electric fences than other animals?
Pangolins are uniquely vulnerable for three compounding reasons. First, their defensive instinct is to curl into a tight ball when threatened, which means a startled animal clamps its body around the live wire, maximising contact and prolonging exposure to the current. Second, their overlapping keratin scales are conductive in damp conditions and do not insulate the animal the way dry, thick hide might. Third, pangolins are strictly nocturnal and move through dense bush at ground level, making them far more likely to encounter the lowest, least visible fence strands in the dark than larger, faster-moving animals that may jump or avoid the obstacle.
How significant are electric fences as a cause of pangolin death in South Africa?
Field data collected by pangolin monitoring programmes in South Africa, including work by the Endangered Wildlife Trust and Pangolin Africa, consistently show that electric fence electrocution ranks alongside or just below poaching as the primary cause of recorded pangolin mortality. In heavily fenced landscapes such as the Lowveld and KwaZulu-Natal game corridors, electric fences are believed to account for a substantial proportion of adult deaths, with some researchers concluding that fence-related casualties may exceed natural predation by a wide margin on intensively managed properties.
Is it illegal to electrocute a pangolin in South Africa, even accidentally?
Yes. Temminck's ground pangolin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is afforded strict protection in South Africa under the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) regulations under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA). These regulations prohibit the killing, capturing, harming or disturbing of a TOPS-listed animal. While accidental electrocution is not criminal in intent, landowners have a duty of care and may face regulatory scrutiny if their fencing is found to be unreasonably dangerous to protected species. Proactive mitigation is both an ethical and a legal responsibility.
What should I do if I find a pangolin near or entangled in an electric fence?
Switch off the energiser at the mains before approaching. Do not handle the animal with bare hands and do not attempt to unroll it by force. Contact Pangolin Africa on their emergency line, or call a registered wildlife rehabilitation centre or wildlife veterinarian in your province immediately. Photograph the animal and the fence for documentation, note the GPS location, and keep people and dogs away. If the animal is curled and unresponsive, it may be in shock rather than dead. Prompt professional intervention has saved animals that appeared beyond help.