The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest eradication fence built in Australia during the 1880s and completed in 1885, to keep the dingo from a relatively fertile south part of the continent (where they have been largely destroyed) and protect the flocks of southern Queensland. It is one of the longest structures in the world. It stretches 5,614 kilometers (3,488 mi) from Jimbour in Darling Downs near Dalby through thousands of kilometers of dry land that ends west of the Eyre peninsula on the Nullarbor Plateau above the Great Australian Bight near Nundroo. Some succeed, although dingo can still be found in some parts of the southern state. Although fences have helped reduce sheep loss for predators, this has been overcome by holes in the fences found in the 1990s through dingo offspring that have passed and with increasing competition of pastures from rabbits and kangaroos.
Video Dingo Fence
Geography
The 2,500 km (1,553 mi) section of the fence in Queensland is also known as the Great Barrier Fence or The Wild Barrier Fence 11 . It is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The Wild Dog Barrier Fan staff consists of 23 employees, including a team of two people patrolling a 300 km (186 mi) fence every week. There are depots in Quilpie and Rome.
The Queensland Border Fence stretches 394 km (245 m) west along the border with New South Wales, into the Strzelecki Desert. The fence passes the point where three states of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet (Cameron Corner). At this point, it is connected to the Australian Border Fence , which runs along 257 km (160 miles) south along the border with New South Wales. It then joins the section known as Dog Fence in South Australia, which has a length of 2,225 km (1,383 mi).
Maps Dingo Fence
Physical design
Fences vary in construction. Most are made of high-diameter wire 180Ã, cm (5.9Ã, ft) but parts of South Australia consist of multi-strand electric fences. The fence lines on both sides are cleaned to a width of 5 m (5.5 yd). Sheep and cattle ranches in Australia are protected by very large fences. Although the size varies, some stations can be larger than small countries. One station alone in South Australia lost more than 11,000 sheep in a year due to dingo attacks before the completion of the fence. Recently in 1991, one station lost 3000 sheep in a year. Sheep farmers fight back using poisoning, shooting, and eventually build the longest fence in the world. Air poison poison bait is still used today.
Part of the Dingo Fence is lit up at night with cold 86-mm cold cathode fluorescent fluorescent lamps alternating red and white. They are supported by longevity batteries that are filled by photovoltaic cells during the day. At small crossings and farms, a series of gates allow vehicles to pass through the fence. Where fences cut off major roads and highways, livestock networks are used to allow high-speed vehicles to pass through.
History
The earliest pest exclusion fence in Australia was created to protect small plots of farmland from predation by marsupials. In the 1860s and 1870s, introduced rabbit populations began to spread rapidly throughout southern Australia. In 1884, an anti-rabbit fence was built. After failing to repel the rabbits, and more successful in driving away pigs, kangaroos, emus and brumbies, and the more sheep farms established, interest for dingo-proof barrier increased considerably so that government funds were used to upgrade and expand the fence. In 1930, approximately 32,000 km of dog webs in Queensland alone were used over rabbit fences. Prior to 1948, the notion of the Dingo Barrier Barrier Scheme was not included in the results as a statewide project whose annual maintenance and repairs were kept. Since this time, there has been a push to shift away from the exclusion-barrier method to complete the extinction of dingo and wild dog breeds. Poisoning species with 1080 feed (sodium monofluoroacetate) has been seen as a much cheaper alternative to fence maintenance. Compromise in the form of continuous toxic usage and shortening of the fence from the previous length of more than 8000 km has been made.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebration, the dingo fence was announced as one of Queensland's Q150 icons for its role of "innovation and invention" icon.
Environmental impact
There appears to be fewer kangaroos and emu on the northwest side of the fence where the dingo is located, suggesting that the presence of dingo reduces the population of the animals. It has also been argued that larger kangaroo populations within the fence have been caused by a lack of dingo predation, and competition for food causes lower sheep-shearing rates than is possible without fences.
Believed to have been introduced to Australia by Aborigines between 4,600 and 18,300 years ago, the status of Dingo as an original or introduced species in Australia has been controversial. According to Dr. Mike Letnic, at the Ecosystem Science Center, UNSW, dingo, as Australia's top predator, has an important role in maintaining the natural balance and that the reintroduced or existing dingo population can increase biodiversity in over 2 million square kilometers of Australia (Avolia 2009). Where the dingo has been destroyed, Dr. Letnic finds more and more red foxes and introduced herbivores, while the original mammals and small grasses disappear. In 2011, Liberal lawmaker for Stuart, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, asked for a $ 200 prize for dingo.
Although fences have helped reduce the loss of sheep to predators, the exception of dingo has allowed increased grassland competition from rabbits, kangaroos and emus. Sheep lost due to the increasing number of stray dogs.
Currently, the rate at which wild camels destroy fence parts is rapidly increasing in South Australia. The plan to restructure the Dog Fence becomes higher and electricity is being worked on.
See also
- Agricultural fencing
- The rabbit fence
- Temporary fencing
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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