Fencing, including electric fencing, is widely used across South Africa for livestock and game ranching practices. Leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis) are particularly prone to being killed by electric fences, but no published studies have assessed the impact of fence structure or quantified tortoise mortality along non-electric fences. This is a conservation concern, especially because South Africa is home to more tortoise species than any other country. This study relates tortoise mortality associated with electrified and non-electrified fences to fence structure, and uses transects away from fences as a comparison to estimate the impact of fences on mortality. All fence types had significantly higher tortoise mortality than open veld transects. Leopard tortoise mortalities were greatest along electric fences (56 % of mortalities), even though these comprised only 4% of fences in the study. By comparison, most angulate tortoises (Chersina angulata) died after becoming wedged in mesh fences. The distribution and abundance of fence types along 2200 km of roads was used to extrapolate the impacts of different fence types on tortoises in the southeastern Karoo, South Africa. A survey of land-use types indicated that game farms were more likely to be associated with the presence of electric fences. Regulations are needed to limit mortality of vulnerable species (tortoises, pangolins) on electric fences by setting a minimum strand height and ‘escape’ periods implemented through randomized off times or thermostatic switches.

击剑，包括电子击剑，在南非被广泛用于牲畜和游戏牧场。豹龟（Stigmochelys pardalis）特别容易被电围栏杀死，但尚未发表任何研究评估围栏结构的影响或量化的沿非电围栏的乌龟死亡率。这是一个保护问题，特别是因为南非比其他任何国家都有更多的陆龟物种。这项研究将电气化和非电气化围栏的乌龟死亡率与围栏结构相关联，并使用远离围栏的样条进行比较，以估计围栏对死亡率的影响。所有栅栏类型的乌龟死亡率均比空心样带高得多。沿着电围栏，豹龟的死亡率最高（占死亡率的56％），尽管在研究中仅占围栏的4％。相比之下，大多数成角的陆龟（Chersina angulata）被楔入网状栅栏后死亡。使用围栏类型在2200公里道路上的分布和丰富程度来推断南非Karoo东南部不同围栏类型对乌龟的影响。对土地利用类型的调查表明，游戏农场更可能与电子围栏相关。需要制定法规来限制电围栏上易受伤害物种（乌龟，穿山甲）的死亡率，方法是设置最小的钢绞线高度和通过随机关闭时间或恒温开关实现的“逃逸”时间。