In the world there are many iconic structures created by human hands: the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the Panama Canal.

But Australia has its own unique and gloomy monument of human ingenuity and despair. This is not a wall to protect against enemies, but a giant fence that stretches for thousands of kilometers across lifeless wastelands. But what terror does he hide ?

The answer is paradoxical: the fence does not protect people from some external threat, but rather protects Australia’s horribly fragile ecosystem from the consequences of its own human invasion.

It all started in the 19th century, with the blossoming of sheep breeding.

The south-eastern fertile lands of the continent have become a golden day for farmers. But their prosperity has found its worst enemy - the wild dog dingo. These intelligent and resilient predators were wreaking havoc on their herds.

Desperate herdsmen in the 1880s began to build the first barriers. Over time, the individual sections merged into one giant structure, which by the 1950s had reached its current length of 5,614 kilometers.

The height of the fence - about 180 cm, it is reinforced with a net that goes under the ground to prevent sub dock. Its constant maintenance is an entire industry. Special teams of «fence guards» patrol their areas on SUVs, helicopters and even camels, repairing damage from wind, sand and, of course, animals.

But dingo dogs are part of the Australian fauna.

The elimination of the main predator south of the fence has led to a catastrophic imbalance in the entire ecosystem.

Without dingo, the population of herbivores - kangaroos and, more importantly, rabbits - has increased dramatically. This, in turn, led to excessive destruction of vegetation and soil erosion.

The disappearance of the dingo led to the «explosion» of the population of smaller predators, such as foxes and feral cats. These animals have become the main threat to endangered small marsupials and birds that were not adapted to such pressure.

It turns out that, trying to save one animal (sheep), man unwittingly signed a death sentence for dozens of other, authentic species.

The fence is a symbolic boundary between the «civilized» world, which man tries to control, and wild, rebellious nature. It demonstrates how gross human intervention creates long-term problems that require more and more interventions. It is a struggle that has no end.

Going to the other side of the fence is like taking a trip to another dimension. To the south of it is agricultural land, although suffering from rabbit infestation.

To the north is a world where wild nature rules in its original and sometimes cruel way.

Here the dingo is still the top of the food chain, regulating the numbers of other species. There are desert landscapes, red dust, incredible starry nights and the feeling of being on the edge of the world. It is the world as it was before the arrival of the Europeans, but already bearing scars from their indirect influence.

The Australian fence is a horror of unintended consequences, a clear lesson on how one simple solution (to protect livestock) can create an enormous environmental problem whose consequences have to be dealt with for decades.

It is a monument not so much to the struggle with the wild nature, as the attempt of man to isolate himself from the complexity and interconnectedness of the world, which he himself has violated. And as the guards continue to build this giant wall, nature on both sides continues its quiet but never-ending war for survival