Wyn_Richards
Tourist
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 89
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Australia's Dog Barrier Fence stretches from the cliffs of the Nullabor Plain to the fertile farms of South-Eastern Queensland. At 5400km, it is the worlds's longest unbroken fence and is two and a half times the length of the Great Wall of China!
The fence was built in the early 1900's to keep wild dogs (dingos and cross-breed packs) out of South-Eastern Australia. As a general rule, sheep are on the eastern side and cattle, which are less vulnerable to dog attack, are in the west. While there are still some dingos and wild dogs on the eastern side, they are more easily controlled and the majority remain in the west.
The fence has maintenance tracks running on either side of it, and there are gates where it crosses major roads. Permission must be sought to travel on these maintenance tracks, and a 4WD with plenty of water and fuel is essential. Fence maintainance is the responsibility of the many local councils that it passes through. The fence is currently being electrified in stages.
While there is no doubt the fence protects millions of dollars worth of sheep, it has very much changed the ecology of central Australia and thousands of native animals die along the fence as they seek water and pasture during times of drought. While kangaroos can jump it, emus and other animals are not so lucky.
I have tried my best to mark the track using overlays of government maps. However the fence has never been officially surveyed and there are areas where the true fence path is in doubt and I have had to give it my best guess. There are several areas through central South Australia where low resolution has made it tricky to identify. Any corrections are welcome.
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Frank_McVey
Master Guide
Reged: 07/22/05
Posts: 5371
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Excellent job, Wyn. I've tried Googling around for some images to illustrate your post, but the few that are around aren't very good. Do you have any images of the fence?
Cheers
Frank
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Braham_S_Aggarwal
Reged: 10/22/05
Posts: 1609
Loc: India
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A map of these great rabbit and dog fences is as seen here below :
Some good photographs of the fences are seen Here
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Worldwide Technologies
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Wyn_Richards
Tourist
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 89
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Thanks Frank, it took a while!
I'm still learning how to link images but I managed to get a few on the original post.
Cheers.
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Wyn_Richards
Tourist
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 89
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Thanks Braham.
Your map shows the dog fence running north almost to the Gulf of Carpentaria. I suspect it is innacurate. As the entire fence is yet to be officially surveyed, it is hard to find detailed maps on the web (without paying). I used an overlay from a Queensland Government map but it still lacks in detail.
http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/pests/maps/barrier_fence_maps.html
There are many vermin barriers in Australia and there are more dog fences further north. They may have once been part of the main fence which may explain why the fence runs further north in your map.
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Braham_S_Aggarwal
Reged: 10/22/05
Posts: 1609
Loc: India
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You may be having more and accurate information than me being a localite.
The map posted is only what I found out on this website.
Nevertheless, this all is a good piece of information as posted by you.
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Worldwide Technologies
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A185F
Tourist
Reged: 06/28/06
Posts: 16
Loc: Charleville, Australia
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Wyn,
see attached KMZ for corrections to the Dog Fence south of Thargomindah in the Mirintu/Moombidary area.
I know this fence well as I fly it a couple of times a year on baiting operations.
Cracker.
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Wyn_Richards
Tourist
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 89
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Thanks A185F,
What fascinates me about the dog fence is that because it is so long, nobody really knows it's true path. I heard somebody was going to survey it. Have you heard anything? Unfortunately I had to do my best with mickey mouse maps from the three states and often low resolution GE images. Your information is the first "real" information I can trust. I have a feeling that there may be hundreds of kilometres where I am way off the mark. I'd like to review the whole thing one day if I can get more accurate data.
Thanks again for your insight. It sounds like you have a fairly scenic job!
Wyn
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A185F
Tourist
Reged: 06/28/06
Posts: 16
Loc: Charleville, Australia
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Wyn It is still wrong around Mirintu south of Thargomindah QLD.
see attached kml file. You have it going through Bulloo downs over near the Overflow, when it in fact comes to the eastern boundary of Mirintu along the NSW/QLD border. On the Moombidary/Mirintu Boundary, the fence turns north at around 143 27'.
Cheers,
Cracker.
Edited by A185F (03/18/07 05:59 PM)
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BruceD
First Post
Reged: 05/07/07
Posts: 1
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Guys
That is not the rabbit proof Fence, its futher to the west, starting at
Lat: 31°33'28" S
Long:130°29'13" E
and it follows the road, that can be confirmed by the water tanks about 8 kms to the north.
Bruce D
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Nattviska
Tourist
Reged: 03/13/07
Posts: 4
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Connect the dots, laa la laa laa..
Great post!
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geveN
Cartographer
Reged: 03/08/07
Posts: 279
Loc: New Zealand
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Hi WynRichards,
I had been saddened with your mention of the treatment to dingos in your response to Hale's post on 'Whale Hunting Time in Antarctia-its coming!!'
So I thought let me look at some of your posts, and I found this; amazing!! a 5400 kilometers fence to keep the dingo out from eastern Australia to protect sheep flocks grazing there.
But some questions now remain unanswered.
What else is being done to contain dingo population.
(In India, stray dogs are rounded up and sterilised and released in less populated regions; this is since some animal activists got putting dogs to sleep banned. Sterilisation is expected to reduce their population gradually.)
Fencing these out from one region is fine, however what are food sources for these dingos that roam the great interior of Australia.
Are dingos a source of rabbies? If so, how is this controlled?
GeveN
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geveN
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Wyn_Richards
Tourist
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 89
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Hi geveN,
Other methods of dingo control are baiting and shooting. The latest effort for many state governments was to reintroduce a bounty on dingos, that is, the government pays about AU$50 for each dingo killed. However, dingos resident in National Parks and reserves are protected. Wild dogs and dingos generally avoid humans, and aren't a problem in towns and cities (although foxes are).
The dingo is in a bad situation due to breeding with what are known as wild dogs. It is often difficult to distinguish between a wild dog and a dingo, but they are both considered pests by many farmers.
Pure bred dingos are becoming increasingly rare in the wild, though the species may be "safe" due to captive breeding. In fact a few people own pure bred dingos as pets, but I believe they are not ideal as the can be a bit agressive.
Dingos are mainly scavengers that feed on dead animals like kangaroos and rabbits, but they are known to prey upon lambs, and to a lesser extent young cattle. This is why the fence was built, to protect the sheep farms in the south east. But the dingo pays a high price for a few stock losses. The farm lobby in Australia is very powerful.
There is (fortunately) no rabies in Australia. The public is divided on how to deal with dingos. There was a famous murder trial in the 1980's where a women was falsely convicted for the murder of her baby, when 10 years later the babies clothes were found in a dingo cave in Ayers Rock. Another small child was killed by a dingo on Fraser Island about five years ago, so there is not a great deal of sympathy for the dingo's plight.
It's a bit like the Great White Shark debate here in Australia. Do we kill them becasue they pose a (small) risk to our lifestyle? Or do we protect them, and respect them for being an important part of the ecosystem? The debate goes on.
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