Even large animals are threatened. More than 100 endangered Asian elephants were killed by electrocution in the state of Odisha, India, over 12 years, mostly by contact with power lines. Giraffes, African elephants, leopards, Cape buffalo and white rhinos have all been electrocuted in various countries.
Primates are especially frequent victims. At least 30 species and subspecies, half of which are threatened with extinction, are affected by electrocution in Asia, Africa and Latin America. “This is a widespread problem, but it’s also underreported and understudied, so there could be more species affected,” said Lydia Katsis, a recent graduate of Bristol Veterinary School in Britain.
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In July, Ms. Katsis published research in the International Journal of Primatology identifying electrocution hot spots for five primate species in Diani Beach, Kenya. Electrocution accounts for up to 20 percent of primate mortality and injury cases reported to Colobus Conservation, a nonprofit group based in the town.
In general, primates that are electrocuted die instantly or from the impact of a fall, but if they survive the initial jolt, they may succumb later to secondary infections from “horrific injuries” caused by the shock, Ms. Katsis said.
In addition to the conservation costs, animals that come in contact with power lines or other electric infrastructure extract a significant economic toll. In 2016, for example, a vervet monkey caused a nationwide blackout in Kenya after tripping a transformer, cutting off power to some 4.7 million homes and businesses.
“Animals have caused outages, disruptions and damage to infrastructure amounting to billions of dollars,” said Constant Hoogstad, a senior manager of industry partnerships at the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization in South Africa. “We estimate that 60 percent of line faults and interruptions in South Africa are wildlife-related.”
Mr. Hoogstad and his colleagues work directly with Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned electricity provider, to carry out various mitigation strategies. These include making power lines more visible to birds, insulating conductors on pole tops, and designing poles so birds cannot make contact with live components.
Source : Nytimes
