Testing a new virtual fencing system on sheep

The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the function of a virtual fencing system, consisting of collars eliciting sound signals and weak electric shocks when a sheep crosses a global positioning system (GPS) based (virtual) border. In experiment 1, 24 ewes were individually attracted to a virtual border to determine how many animals would learn to avoid electric shocks in three repetitions. Nine of the ewes succeeded and there were large individual differences in how they responded. In experiment 2, these nine ewes were kept in a virtual enclosure, with and without a physical fence outside the border, for four days. The ewes stayed inside the intended pasture when the border was kept stationary. Moving the border resulted in the ewes escaping over the virtual border. The results from the study indicate challenges with this virtual system. This has implications for the use of animal virtual fences for commercial sheep production.