SECTION 3
Read the following passage and answer Questions 28 — 40.
The Australian Dingo Fence
Australia is a land with many famous landmarks and is blessed with different magnificent landscapes from desert to mountains. Perhaps Australia's most iconic division is a basic two-meter-high fence. This fence may be basic in its construction, but it certainly is not by length at 5614 kilometers. The world's longest fence, known as the Dingo Fence or Dog Fence, has split Australia in two for the past one hundred and thirty years.
The dingo, the wild dog of the Australian continent and the largest carnivorous mammal in the country, has been seen as a nuisance animal on agricultural lands dating back to the beginning of European settlement in the region, predating the valuable sheep flocks that cover much of southeastern Australia. The dingo's origin is uncertain, though scientists now believe that it is related to the Asian and Middle Eastern wolf that probably arrived in Australia between 3,500 and 4,000 years ago, transported by Asian seafarers.
The first merino sheep flocks were brought to Australia in the 1800's. When grazing began in the northern plains of South Australia in about 1860, the first 30 years were relatively free of dingoes. However, dingo populations multiplied and evidence has shown that they began to thrive on the newly imported European rabbits that were running in feral plagues at the same time.
By the early 1900's, dingo attacks had made it impossible to successfully establish a sheep industry. Bounties have been placed on the heads of dingoes in southeastern Australia since as early as 1852. While bounties were placed on numerous types of animals, the bounties given for dingoes were generally the highest and often twice as much was given for a dingo than for other pests, such as foxes, hares, and wallabies. The most effective method of preventing dingoes from killing sheep in southeastern Australia, however, was to stop them from entering it in the first place. Sheep graziers began building fences around their properties to protect their flocks from the predatory dingo. As time went on, neighbouring livestock properties grouped together to become enclosed within vermin-proof fences. Rapidly expanding fenced properties joined up to become what were termed vermin-proof districts. At the peak of these vermin-proof districts, there were over 30,000 miles of these fences. In 1946, a single-line dog fence was established in South Australia to align with the most northern boundaries of the properties contained within the vermin-proof districts. It now extends from the Great Australian Bight eastward across South Australia, through New South Wales, to finish near the Pacific coast. Over time, the length of the fence has also been reduced within Queensland for cost reasons and control over the dingo population is often done via less expensive poisoning, specifically via bait laced with sodium monofluoroacetate.
While dingoes remain common in the northern half of Australia, they are almost non-existent in most places on the south side of the fence, except for the strip of land between the Pacific Coast and the Great Dividing Range, where no fencing exists. Despite maintenance and patrol, holes have developed in the fence over the years, particularly in South Australia, and dingo offspring have been passing through them and predating on sheep on the other side, greatly affecting the ability of farmers to stay afloat. Feral camels are also smashing through sections of the fence in search of water and recommendations to reinforce and electrify more portions of the fence have been made to deal with this.
The Dog Fence Board is the governing body set up to administer and manage the Dog Fence and ensure that it is regularly patrolled and maintained. The Dog Fence Act 1946 levied a rate on grazing properties located inside the fence to fund wages for maintenance and patrol workers. Since 1947, the fence within South Australia has been continuously maintained, re-aligned and upgraded. New fencing technology has also been incorporated and dog-proof grids at road crossings and solar-powered electrified sections have been introduced.
The type of fence that is mostly used today is the sloping dog fence. Every section of the fence is just over a metre high and has six wires, consecutively electrically charged and earthed, that go between two timber posts down from the top until around 30 centimetres from the bottom. The lower wires then angle out to the ground at approximately a 30-degree angle with four more wires, again consecutively electrically charged and earthed. These angled bottom wires are more narrowly spaced, as this is where pressure from dingoes is greatest. The sloping wire arrangement may also slow the approach of animals to the fence.
This fence is cheaper to construct and maintain compared to the composite dog fence, which goes under the ground. The sloping dog fence is recommended for most locations, except in situations where the soil is susceptible to erosion, as this may result in the formation of gaps below the fence. The positioning of electric wires close to the ground is also likely to result in the death of other animals and, as a result, in places where lots of other species are in danger, this design is avoided. The fence's low electric wires are also likely to be problematic in environments with considerable ground vegetation, which will cause electrical shorts and leakage.
Question 28 - 32
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
In boxes 28 — 32 on your answer sheet write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
