Smallholder farmers at Den Staat farm in South Africa’s Limpopo region are using household drums, fires, and white plastic containers to deter wild elephants from raiding their crops at night, Mongabay reported.
The farm sits directly within the Greater Mapungubwe area, a vital wildlife corridor where elephants move across international borders between South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. For the more than 160 residents living on the land, these nocturnal incursions threaten their primary source of income.
Deterrents on the Ground
Last night we had a very big fight with an elephant in our tomato field,
said Joeman Moyo, a farmer who tends a 5-hectare plot on the land. Moyo described using a torch to build a fire and burning a tire, though he noted the elephant repeatedly returned once the flames died down.
Farmers across the community rely on inexpensive makeshift solutions because they cannot afford commercial electric fencing. Masolo Saul Sematha explained that residents bang on small metal tins to create loud noises, explaining that animals eventually learn the sound harmlessly.
To adapt when noise stops working, farmers rotate methods. Sematha ties empty white plastic containers to wires across his yard so that blowing winds create motion and sound, while others use toy guns to frighten the animals away.
History and Population Pressures
The land carries a deep historical context of forced removals under apartheid before it was successfully reclaimed by the Machete community and returned in 2010 to be held collectively through a Community Property Association. Today, residents identify elephants as their most destructive neighbor, though they also lose crops to baboons, warthogs, zebras, and wildebeests.
A 2026 study published in Conservation Science and Practice estimated the Mapungubwe National Park elephant population at 243, noting an annual population growth rate of 18% over the preceding five years.
| Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Estimated Park Population | 243 elephants (2026 study) |
| Park Population Growth Rate | 18% annually over prior five years |
| Estimated Crop Losses | 30,000 to 100,000+ rand per incident |
| Commercial Fence Cost | Roughly 100,000 rand ($6,000) for a 12-acre plot |
Research into animal behavior supports some local tactics, with studies such as Malaysian research on Asian elephants published in Tropical Life Sciences Research showing that sound can serve as an alternative mitigation tool.
Elephant Raids Cause Significant Agricultural Losses
Elephant raids carry an immediate financial cost for families relying entirely on agriculture. Sematha noted that after elephant damage disrupted his fields, he harvested only eight truckloads of tomatoes in 2024 instead of the ten he originally expected.
University research in the Greater Mapungubwe area indicates that less severe elephant incursions cause annual losses between 30,000 and 50,000 rand, while extensive damage easily surpasses 100,000 rand.
Rey Thakhuli, general manager for communications at South African National Parks, explained that deploying park rangers to chase animals off private farmlands remains difficult due to cross-border movements from Botswana. Thakhuli suggested that securing external funding to help the community erect protective fencing remains the most viable long-term mitigation measure.
