Northern Tablelands Local Land Service research associate Kathryn Lambert is working with Uralla producer Gordon Williams, who developed a gate design to plug holes.

Gordon wanted to find a balance that allowed safe passage of native animals and kept the integrity of his fences intact.

It didn’t hurt to save hours and money each week repairing fences.

“Basically it’s based on a previous installation of gates down in Tasmania which were for wombats,” Kathryn said.

She said Gordon studied size and location of holes made by kangaroos, and adapted the wombat design for the hopping animals.

“It’s got the two fenceposts on the outside, and it’s got just the wire that holds it in, so there’s a permanent hole there,” Kathryn said.

“The ones he has on the boundary fences have a flap on them, and the ones that are within the actual property are just the hole.” Kathryn said the LLS is monitoring the new gates with night-vision motion detection cameras to track the traffic and usage at the placement. 

“Because they’re already in places where the kangaroos have made holes, that ensured they’ll continue to use them, because they already know there’s a hole there,” she said.

Since the installation, they have even discovered a spotted quoll travelling through the new gate.

“That was a stroke of luck with the gate because we didn’t know what else is going though. We thought maybe an echidna or something,” Kathryn said.

“Because the quolls are threatened, and that was a really cool picture to get.”

Kathryn said fence repair can cost farmers thousands a year. 

Installation of a wildlife gate costs $10 for materials and $40 labour. 

For more information and updates on the wildlife gate research, phone the Northern Tablelands LLS on 6728 8020, follow them on Facebook or Kathryn’s twitter account, @ecofascination.