General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20266 min read

Rabbit-proof fence

The rabbit-proof fence was a set of pest-exclusion fences built in Western Australia between 1901 and 1907 to stop rabbits spreading from eastern Australia into the state's crops and pastures. The network comprised three fences totaling more than 3,000 km, with the Number 1 fence running from the south coast to the northwest coast; when completed it was described as the longest unbroken fence in the world¹. The fences failed in their original purpose, since rabbits were found west of the line before construction finished, but the surviving structure, now called the State Barrier Fence, still functions as a barrier against wild dogs and other animal pests²^•³.

Key fact	Detail
Purpose	Keep rabbits and other agricultural pests from the east out of Western Australian pastoral and cropping areas¹
Survey and start	Government Surveyor A.W. Canning commissioned in 1901; construction began December 1901¹
Fence No. 1	Completed 1906, from Starvation Boat Harbour (west of Esperance) to Wallal on 80 Mile Beach, 1,822 km¹
Fence No. 2	Built 1905, 1,166 km from Point Ann through Cunderdin, joining No. 1 at Gum Creek in the Murchison⁴
Fence No. 3	Built 16 November 1906 to 30 December 1907, an east-west barrier cutting off the northern half of the state⁵
Construction cost	£250 per kilometer; saltwater paperbark posts, 42-inch wire netting with mesh not less than 1.5 inches, six inches of netting buried¹
Outcome	Never fully effective against rabbits and now ineffective in that role; today it restricts the movement of wild dogs into the south west²^•³

Background: the rabbit invasion

Rabbits were introduced to Australia at Geelong, Victoria, by Thomas Austin in 1859 and spread rapidly across the eastern colonies¹. By 1896 they had been found as far west as Eucla, and 200 kilometers further west at Twilight Cove near Esperance; in that year Arthur Gregory Mason reported rabbits at least two hundred miles past the South Australian border and inside Western Australia, recommending a barrier fence to the government¹. After debate and a Royal Commission, the government adopted the barrier-fence idea¹.

Survey and construction

In 1901 the Government Surveyor A.W. Canning, later known for surveying the Canning Stock Route, was commissioned to mark a fence line to cut off the flow of rabbits entering Western Australia¹^•⁶. With only Hubert Trotman, Hassan (an Afghan camel man), and eight camels, Canning completed the preliminary exploratory survey from Burracoppin to Starvation Boat Harbour in July and August 1901, and construction began that December¹.

Fence No. 1 ran from Starvation Boat Harbour, just west of Esperance, to Wallal on 80 Mile Beach in the northwest. The heritage record gives its length as 1,822 km¹, while the State Library of Western Australia's archived account gives 1,834 km from the south coast to the northwest coast along a line north of Burracoppin, 230 km east of Perth⁴. The section from Starvation Boat Harbour to Burracoppin was built by contract, with saltwater paperbark posts obtained locally on the lower section and other materials shipped into Starvation Boat Harbour¹.

Fence No. 2 was built after rabbits were found west of the first line by 1902, to stem their advance. It stretched 1,166 km from Point Ann on the south coast through Cunderdin, 150 km east of Perth, joining the original fence at Gum Creek in the Murchison area⁴. A parallel account describes it as erected roughly 60 miles inside the first fence between March and July 1904, using jam posts placed 12 feet apart with wire netting whose lowest six inches were dipped in coal tar and buried toward the east to prevent digging⁵.

Fence No. 3, also called the Emu Barrier Fence, ran on an east-west axis to cut off the northern half of the state. Its construction started on 16 November 1906 and was completed by 30 December 1907⁵. By 1908 all three fences were complete, over 3,000 km of fence line in total¹.

Patrolling and maintenance

Alex Crawford was appointed the first Chief Inspector of Rabbits. The fence was maintained by boundary riders patrolling 240 km stretches, with permanent water catchments and huts at intervals of 50 km, gates every 32 km, and trap yards for foxes, dingoes, and rabbits every 8 km; grids and rabbit-proof gates were built where the fence crossed roads¹.

Patrol transport was a persistent problem. Horses needed regular water, inspection from camel height proved unsatisfactory, bicycles failed, and a motor vehicle bought in 1910 suffered punctures and broken springs until it had to be towed back to camp by camels. The workable solution was buckboard buggies pulled by pairs of camels¹.

Effectiveness

The fence only slowed the rabbits' migration. Erosion under the fences, holes in the wire, and gates left open allowed rabbits to continue moving west into the fertile agricultural areas, where in their hundreds of thousands they ate out pasture, ring-barked trees, and devoured crops¹. A national cultural heritage study states plainly that the Rabbit Proof Fence was never fully effective and is now ineffective against rabbits, its original function².

The fence's role shifted over time. It was later known as the State Vermin Barrier Fence and the Emu Fence before taking its current name, the State Barrier Fence, and today it plays an important role in restricting the movement of wild dogs, a significant threat to livestock enterprises, into the south west of Western Australia³. Ongoing maintenance is required to keep it functioning as a barrier against wild dogs and other animal pests³.

The Esperance extension

In May 2019 the Western Australian Government began extending the State Barrier Fence eastward, backed by a $6.9 million investment as part of measures to support the livestock industry against wild dogs. The first 8.5 km of the build involved training Esperance Tjaltjraak Aboriginal Rangers in fencing construction so they could seek future contracting opportunities⁷.

The extension remains unfinished. In June 2026, Peter Rundle MLA, Member for Roe and Deputy Leader of The Nationals WA, raised a grievance in Parliament over continued delays to the Esperance Extension, saying that seven years after construction began farmers still did not know when the fence would be completed⁸. The Department continues to deliver repairs and maintenance of the State Barrier Fence, including the Esperance extension and floodway repairs⁹.

Legacy

The fence remains a heritage-listed landscape feature. The heritage record describes it as the longest fence in the world, extending over 1,800 km, significant for its contribution to agriculture at the turn of the century, and rare as a method of pest control that eventually also helped prevent the movement of dingoes, foxes, and emus¹. Much of the fence is still in good repair, especially where abutting farmers use it as a boundary fence¹. The name survives in local infrastructure, including Rabbit Proof Fence Road in the Shire of Dalwallinu, where Main Roads Western Australia downgraded heavy-vehicle access in October 2025 after a safety review found inadequate seal widths¹⁰.

References

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026