Work under way to bridge 32km gap in NSW dog fence – but ecologists say it should be taken down

Fri, 31 May 2024 04:10:20 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/06/work-is-under-way-to-bridge-a-32km-gap-in-the-nsw-dog-fence-but-ecologists-say-it-should-be-taken-down>

"In the far-western reaches of New South Wales, the world’s longest fence
tracks through the red dirt making a cartographically straight path along state
borders.

The 5,614km fence starts in South Australia, where it’s called the dog fence,
and joins the NSW border near Broken Hill, where it becomes that state’s
responsibility and is called the wild dog fence. At Cameron Corner it veers
north into Queensland and becomes the wild dog barrier fence. It follows the
route set out in the 1940s by the old dingo fence, used to keep dingoes out of
remote grazing land to the west and prime agricultural country in Queensland’s
Darling Downs.

For farmers it has become part of the landscape, a key plank in protecting
livestock against dingoes and wild dogs. But ecologists say the fence is a
colonial legacy that is doing more harm than good.

In a report presented to the lands minister, Steve Kamper, in March, the board
chair, Andrew Bell, said fewer than 10 wild dogs were reported outside the
fence, with a full inspection of the NSW side of the fence completed and shown
to be in “very good order”."

Unfortunately sheep farmers have far more political power than ecologists and
native people, animals or plants.

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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