NSW: High level of wild dogs detected in NSW's northwest

AAP General News (Australia)
08-19-2009
NSW: High level of wild dogs detected in NSW's northwest

SYDNEY, Aug 19 AAP - Wild dogs are reaching threatening numbers in NSW's northwest,
as a yearly inspection of a 600km stretch of fence aimed at keeping them from livestock
begins.

Lands Minister Tony Kelly said large numbers of the dogs, including dingoes, had been
reported in the Paroo River region, where they appear to have been attracted by the ready
availability of water.

"The rise in wild dog numbers would be a concern for graziers in western regions, but
it also strongly emphasises the importance and value of the wild dog fence to the livestock
sector," Mr Kelly said in a statement, as the Wild Dog Destruction board begins its annual
inspection.

"Without the fence, sheep in the western division would be subject to high losses due
to the wild dogs."

The stretch of two-metre-high fence runs west along the NSW-Queensland border from
Jimbour and south along the NSW and South Australian border to north of Broken Hill.

The fence was initially built to keep rabbits out of South Australia and Queensland
during the 1880s.

AAP nr/evt/jhp

KEYWORD: DOGS

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