There are two broad options:
(a) replace or remove the barbed wire and
(b) make the barbed wire fence more visible.

As far as we know, there has been no research on the relative effectiveness of barbed wire and other fencing options for various purposes, or the impacts on wildlife of different fencing options. So, the suggestions below are preliminary. Please read the Disclaimer page carefully before applying ideas or advice from this site.

We welcome any information you have about fencing and wildlife. We propose to develop a comprehensive wildlife friendly fencing guide once we have sufficient case studies completed.

A. REMOVAL / REPLACEMENT / ALTERNATIVE FENCING MATERIALS
1. Use plain wire or other fencing material: The best option is for barbed wire not to be used at all in fences. Replacing the top one or two strands with plain wire will resolve most problems#. Other fencing options include the use of ‘borderline’ or ‘knightline’, which are solid high tension nylon sighter ‘wires’ (no steel), used mainly for horse fencing. Knightline glows in the dark. They are significantly more expensive than plain wire, but would be useful in high-risk areas. [put link to nightline case study]
2. Remove fences: In some high risk situations, such as along ridgelines or around wetlands, the best option is to remove the fence altogether and erect it elsewhere if need be. In many cases, fencing does not serve an essential purpose.
3. Cover the barbs on existing fences: Barbs can be covered with tubing, particularly in entanglement hot spots. Gadgets have been designed for splitting poly pipe quickly and for applying the pipe to the fence. See photos below. In entanglement hotspots, another option is to install an ‘apron’ of chicken mesh or similar over the fence.

# Ballina Shire has recently replaced the barbed wire on the two top strands of a fence around four sewage treatment ponds ( Cheryl Cochran, FFICN, 2005). In Townsville, the 10 th T erminal R egiment of the Australian Army installed plain wire on all their fences to avoid entanglements of juvenile bats which are released on its land and other bats at the Ross River colony (Dominique Thiriet, pers. comm. 2006).

Photo: Cheryl Cochrane		Photo: Cheryl Cochrane

Above: The polypipe splitter device that simultaneously splits and installs the pipe over barbs. The gadget has been developed by a member of the Northern Rivers Wildlife (Cheryl Cochran, Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers pers. comm.. Feb 2006).

4. Use electric fences: Electric fences can be effective to control stock access, although the vegetation management required to maintain them can be costly and time consuming, particularly in northern Australia. Sometimes cattle are prepared to suffer electric shocks, and the fences may not be effective. Some sorts of electric fences may also kill and injure some native wildlife. For example, some animals respond to electric shocks in ways which make them particularly vulnerable to death on electric fences, e.g. snakes often curl around a wire after being shocked, sugar gliders may wrap their tails around the wire and echidnas curl up in a ball ( Lund & De Silva 1994, cited by Long & Robley 2004). We are still undecided about the efficacy of electric fencing as a WFF option.

B. IMPROVED VISIBILITY
Barbed wire can be made more visible to animals by adding visible (and often audible) markers to the fence, such as tape, plastic flags, metal tags, and empty aluminium cans. Considerations include the danger to cattle, introduction of waste to the environment, the effort required for installation and maintenance, and the cost.
Plastic ribbon or second-hand car yard bunting/flags cannot be used where there are cattle. Cattle eat stray plastic, suffer digestive problems and may die. Plastic flagging can be used to mark fences on army bases or rural rubbish tips, but not where cattle are grazed.

1. Electric tape: Discarded white electric fence tape can be strung above the top strand of barbed wire, secured to wooden fence posts with fencing staples ro to star pickets with cable ties. If tying lengths of tape together, avoid loose ends if likely to tempt grazing livestock.
The tape offers good visibility, as it is white and shimmies in the wind; it also acts as a physical barrier. It is cheap, quick and easy to put up, especially over long distances.

Photo: Ashleigh Johnson		Photo: Ashleigh Johnson. Landowner Brian Naughton with old electric fence tape as a marker.

2. Plastic signals: Plastic bunting , flagging made from surveyors tape, or plastic warning tags such as are used on roadworks, can be added to barbed wire to provide a visual and aural warning to wildlife. Bunting needs to be replaced about annually because of deterioration. Second-hand bunting can be obtained from caryard dealers. Plastic flags made from tape are cheap, but need to be regularly replaced due to deterioration. Flags need to be quite closely placed, at least every 30 cm or so. A flying-fox has been entangled on barbed wire less than 40cm from flagging (Dominique Thiriet pers. comm.. Feb 2006). Plastic should not be used on stock fences.

Bunting has apparently been successful at preventing flying-fox entanglements for >10 years at the Rockhampton rubbish tip (Nigel Tuckwood, Waste Coordinator, Rockhampton City Council, pers. comm. April 2005) and also at the Amberley airforce base ( Rebecca Worrill, Civilian Environment Officer, Amberley Airforce Base, pers. comm.. April 2005).

3. Metal signals: Metal tags or other shiny objects, such as metal plates or beer cans, can also act to make barbed wire more visible.

Metal tags have been used on a DPI facility in Cleveland with no bat deaths recorded since (as at April 2005) ( Louise Saunders, Brisbane Bat Rescue, pers. comm. April 2005).
Aluminium one-person pie dishes are simply bent and clamped by hand over the barbed wire (Meredith Ryan, pers. comm. April 2005).
Metal plates have been installed between the top two barbed strands atop a cyclone mesh fence around a power substation in the Pilbara. In this case, barbed wire was required since substations should meet Australian Standards regarding the Restriction of Entry (point 10.4; AS 2067-1984) and plates were considered to be the best alternative (Kyle Armstrong, pers. comm. March 2006).
Beer cans have been used by iron ore mining companies in the Pilbara (Kyle Armstrong, pers. comm. March 2006) and on camel fences at Newhaven , Birds Australia's property in the Northern Territory.

4. Others: Brightly-coloured plastic balls (like airstrip powerline markers) have been used to prevent powerline strike by cranes in Europe and the US and may also be useful for fences. These would be a relatively expensive option for extensive lengths of fencing.

See < http://ozcranes.net/ >

Photo:Jon Luly. Army Barracks Townsville.		Photo:Jon Luly. Metal tags.

C. OTHER OPTIONS
1. Remove food trees: Food trees close to barbed wire could be removed if this is the reason flying-foxes are getting caught. Unless the tree is a weed, however, this is not a good option for wildlife, and can be expensive.
2. Manage vegetation: In some cases, managing the height of vegetation may prevent entanglements. Birds and bats tend not to be caught on surrounding barbed wire once closely-planted trees grow to fence height. Where fenceline grass is long, bat deaths may be reduced. Furthermore, hedges of vegetation can be planted to replace barbed wire fences – prickly vegetation may inhibit access as well as barbed wire. Regular vegetation management is probably not feasible on relatively large properties.
3. Check fences: Improved surveillance of fences and timely rescues would save some entangled creatures, however this will not address the causes of entanglement. While it may not be realistic to expect farmers with many kilometres of fences to regularly check them, this could reasonably be asked of landholders with short fences, such as those in industrial areas or rural residential areas. It should be requested in addition to other measures.