Hi Chris, the Bilby Fence is at Currawinya National Park South of Eulo on
the Hungerford Rd. South Western Qld just North of the border.
It was built at a cost of $ 400.000 or $ 550.000 depends who you talk to and
was finished in 2001.
It is an electrified predator and feral animal proof netting fence six foot
high with netting laying on the ground on the outside to prevent predators
digging under and an outside flap of netting at the top that prevents
anything climbing over by it swinging down under their weight.
It is said to be 25 km long with some saying it fences in 21 sqr km. it was
built for captive bred Bilbies to get a wild breeding colony back into the
area
where they were once found in good numbers.
It was built with massive fundraising and large donations of fencing
material from Cyclone, Waratah etc companies and many hours of voluntary
labour
including foreign backpackers.
A great success with the Bilbies breeding in good numbers only to be wrecked
when nobody thought to check the fence line to see if the netting had rusted
out during the big rains and floods.
The disaster was discovered in 2012 when it was found that cats had got in
and had wiped out the colony, much to the dismay of those involved with the
captive breeding and the years of fund raising, Save the Bilby etc.
There is a sample of the fence at the Currawinya Shearing Shed for tourist
to see but not even representatives from the companies that donated the
material
are allowed to the fenced area.
I had a look at it when I went to see the massive flocks of thousands of
Pelicans and Cormorants that nest on the lakes in the Park.
Barney
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