Fact Sheet #11

The dingo is likely to have evolved in southern mainland Asia some 10,000

years ago, and arrived in Australia approximately 5,000 years ago with Asian seafarers.

The dingo was present at the time of European settlement, and is prominent

in local Aboriginal mythology and rock art. Aboriginal people had well-developed cultural associations with

dingoes, using them for companionship and to hunt game. Distribution:

The dingo can be found in almost any part of the Australian mainland. Dingo numbers have

increased after the introduction of the invasive rabbit, and the development of artesian water used for cattle and sheep pastoralism.

Habitat:

The dingoes preferred habitat is the edge of forests and grasslands, where prey and water is most abundant. However humans have forced

dingo populations inland to more semi-arid areas.

Dingo Barrier Fence:

The Dingo Barrier Fence is the worlds longest

fence spanning over 5,400 km. The dingo is considered a native animal north of the fence and considered a pest in sheep grazing areas

south of the fence.

Dingo control is particularly intensive along the South Australian section of the Dingo Barrier

Fence. A 10–30 km buffer zone is regularly baited with sodium monofluoroacetate (1080)

poison baits to reduce the threat of reinvasion.

Characteristics:

Dingoes cannot bark, and communicate over long distances by howling. Wild dingoes can live for up to ten years, but usually live for five

or six years. Dingoes have some unique physi-cal characteristics including being able to turn their head almost 180 degrees in each direc-

tion, and are capable of rotating their wrists

enabling dingoes to use their paws like hands.

Although dingoes are often seen alone, many

belong to social packs whose members meet every few days. The size of a dingo packs terri-tory varies with prey resources and

terrain, but their home range in arid Australia can vary from 25km2 up to

270km2.

Shelter:

Dingoes shelter in dens. This might be a hollow log, a cave or an enlarged

rabbit warren. Dingoes have been known to shift shelter sites whilst rear-

ing pups.

Dingo (Canis lupus dingo)

Dingo

Photo

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Map showing Dingo Barrier Fence; with cattle

grazing north of the fence, and sheep grazing south of the fence.

Source: Queensland Museum

Impacts:

When food is in short

supply, a number of dingoes may hunt and work together to kill larger animals like

sheep and kangaroos. Predation on livestock (particularly sheep) is

a threat for pastoral-ists, whom usually consider the dingo an

enemy.

Dingoes and their

hybrids, are estimated to cost the Australian livestock industry

$66.3 million in pro-duction losses each year.

Dingo Den at Arid Recovery Source: Arid Recovery

Hybridisation:

The greatest constraint on the conser-vation of the dingo is hybridization with the domestic dog C. f. familiaris, which

dilutes the proportion of ‘pure’ dingo genes present in a population.

This may result in in behavioural or re-productive changes that could have an adverse impact on Australian mammals

that have adapted to predation by din-goes, and potentially wipe out the pure

bred dingo subspecies.

Arid Recovery Research:

The Arid Recovery Dingo Project is

studying the detailed interaction be-tween dingoes, cats and foxes in a pen trial. The study looks at the role of din-goes in suppressing cats and foxes in

arid Australia, what influence this has on prey populations, and if there is a possi-ble net benefit for threatened species

conservation. Outcomes will hopefully assist biodiversity and production man-agers to find a balance between protec-

tion of biodiversity and minimising calf predation.

A carcass dump has been established to attract the dingoes, and remote cameras constantly monitor and assess dingo

population numbers within the pen, condition and sex of the dingoes, the social hierarchy within the pack and any

other behaviours of interest.

Diet:

Dingoes are opportunistic predators and scaven-gers, usually hunting at night . They may hunt

alone or in pairs, but when small game is scarce and larger prey must be tackled, cooperative hunting takes place. Studies assessing diet using scat and stomach samples have found that din-

goes’ diet can consist of a range of large mam-mals (including kangaroo, cattle and sheep), small-

er mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.

Breeding:

Dingo puppies become mature enough to breed

at two years of age. Mating usually occurs from

autumn through to early winter. There is usually

3-6 young in a litter, born in late winter or early

spring after a gestation period of approximately

nine weeks. Pups are born and reared in a den,

where they remain until they are old enough to

run and hunt.

Distribution of the Dingo and wild dog in Australia.

Source: National Land and Water Audit: Invasive Species 2008

Remote Camera Monitoring at Arid

Recovery

Arid Recovery Fact Sheet #02 Dingo

Dingo footprint in the mud.

Photo: K. Holmes

Find Out More www.aridrecovery.org.au

The Mammals of Australia 1995 edited by Ronald Strahan, Reed Books Chatswood NSW

Website: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Dingo

Moseby, K. E. Neilly, H. Read, J.L. Crisp, H.A. (2012) Interactions between a Top Order Predator and Exotic Mesopredators in

the Ausrtralian Rangelands, International Journal of Ecology, Volume 2012, Article ID 250352, 15 pages.

Letnic, M., Koch, F., Gordon, C., Crowther, M., Dickman, C., (2009) Keystone effects of an alien top-predator stem extinctions

of native mammals, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, 276, pp. 3249-3256.

Eldridge S.R., Shakeshaft B.J. and Nano, T.J. (2002). The impact of wild dog control on cattle, native and introduced herbivores

and introduced predators in central Australia. Unpublished report to the Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra.

Dingoes at the carcass dump,

which is established for the Arid

Recovery ‘Dingo Project’.

A male dingo with a collar

attached for radio tracking.

The Dingo cannot bark, and

communicates by howling, as

seen in this photo.

The dingo has larger canine

teeth than domestic dogs.

Dingo pup sitting at a dingo den at Arid Recovery Source: Arid Recovery