On the Fence: The Impact of Education on Support for Electric Fencing to Prevent Conflict between Humans and Baboons in Kommetjie, South Africa

Abstract

Few studies test whether education can help increase support for wildlife management interventions. This mixed methods study sought to test the importance of educating a community on the use of a baboon-proof electric fence to mitigate negative interactions between humans and Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in a residential suburb of the City of Cape Town, South Africa. An educational video on the welfare, conservation and lifestyle benefits of a baboon-proof electric fence was included in a short online survey. The positioning of the video within the survey was randomised either to fall before or after questions probing the level of support for an electric fence. The results showed that watching the video before most survey questions increased the average marginal probability of supporting an electric fence by 15 percentage points. The study also explored whether the educational video could change people's minds. Those who saw the video towards the end of the survey were questioned again about the electric fence. Many changed their minds after watching the video, with support for the fence increasing from 36% to 50%. Of these respondents, the results show that being female raised the average marginal probability of someone changing their mind in favour of supporting the fence by 19%. Qualitative analysis revealed that support for or against the fence was multi-layered and that costs and concern for baboons were not the only relevant factors influencing people's choices. Conservation often needs to change people's behaviours. We need to know what interventions are effective. We show in the real world that an educational video can be effective and can moderately change people's opinions and that women are more likely to change their position in light of the facts than men. This study contributes to the emerging literature on the importance of education in managing conservation conflicts and the need for evidence-based interventions.

Keywords: baboon-proof fence; conservation management; education; evidence-based intervention; human–wildlife conflict; spatial overlap; stakeholders; urban spaces.

Figure 1

The baboon-proof electric fence in the suburb of Zwaanswyk in Cape Town. Photo © Jessica Burnette, 2020.

Figure 2

Map showing the location of the study site, Kommetjie (star), on the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. Map image modified from © d-maps.com (accessed on 2 March 2021) [32].

Figure 3

Google Earth image visualising where a baboon-proof electric fence in Kommetjie could be situated. Maps data: Google, © 2020 Maxar Technologies AfriGIS (Pty) Ltd.

Figure 4

Diverging bar plot showing a positive difference in the level of support for the fence for respondents who had watched the video first (video_start) compared to those who did not see the video prior (video_end) to answering the survey question “do you support a baboon-proof fence?”. The percentages for each Likert response are indicated within the stacks.

Figure 5

Diverging bar plot showing a positive difference in the level of support for the fence for respondents that watched the video at the end (video_end) and were given another chance to state their level of support after watching the video (n = 64). Those who indicated they had not watched the video were excluded.

Figure 6

Diverging barplot showing a positive difference between video_end and video_start respondents in response to the question “do you agree or disagree that a baboon-proof electric fence improves the welfare and conservation status of baboons?”. The percentages for each Likert response are indicated within the stacks.

Figure 7

Diverging barplot showing a difference in the level of support for those that watched the video at the end (video_end) and those that watched it at the start (video_start) in response to the question “Please indicate your willingness to pay a monthly levy to construct and maintain an electric fence”. The percentages for each Likert response are indicated within the stacks.

Figure 8

Phrase cloud for the sub-themes relating to objections to the fence based on respondents saying that they do not support a fence if it is paid for by conservation authorities. The size of the phrase represents the frequency of occurrence from both video_end and video_start respondents.