Dingo Fence

Dingo Fence
Australia
Dingo Fence on the 29th parallel south in Sturt National Park (right of fence), looking east from Cameron Corner
Route of the Dingo Fence (purple)
TypeFence
Length5,614 km
Site history
Built1880-85
MaterialsWire mesh

The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest-exclusion fence in Australia to keep dingoes out of the relatively fertile south-east part of the continent (where they have largely been exterminated) and protect the sheep flocks of southern Queensland.

One of the longest structures in the world, it stretches 5,614 kilometres (3,488 mi)[1] from Jimbour on the Darling Downs near Dalby through thousands of kilometres of arid land ending west of Eyre peninsula on cliffs of the Nullarbor Plain[2] above the Great Australian Bight[3] near Nundroo.[4]

It has been partly successful, though dingoes can still be found in parts of the southern states. Although the fence has helped reduce losses of sheep to predators, this has been countered by holes in fences found in the 1990s through which dingo offspring have passed[2] and by increased pasture competition from rabbits and kangaroos.

  1. ^ Downward, R.J.; Bromell, J.E. (March 1990). "The development of a policy for the management of dingo populations in South Australia". Proceedings of the Fourteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1990. University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Dingo numbers out of control: pastoralists". ABC News (Australia). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  3. ^ Helps, Y.L.M.; Moller, J.; Kowanko, I.; Harrison, J.E.; O'Donnell, K.; de Crespigny, C. (October 2008). "Road Safety Grant Report 2008-01 - Aboriginal People Travelling Well: Issues of safety, transport and health" (PDF). Australian Government - Department of Regional Development and Local Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  4. ^ "South Australia's National Parks Guide" (PDF). Government of South Australia - Department for Environment and Heritage. 2008–2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.