“As apex predators, dingoes play a fundamental role in shaping ecosystems by keeping the number of herbivores and smaller predators in check,” says Prof. He says they play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity and health of the ecosystem. Professor Mike Letnic, senior author of the study and professor of conservation biology, has been researching dingoes and their interaction with the ecosystem for 25 years. “Only then can we have an open public discussion about finding a balance between dingo control and dingo conservation in the Australian bush,” he said. Mr Brad Nesbitt, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of New England and a co-author on the study believes there is an urgent need to stop calling dingoes wild dogs. This language can contribute to other misunderstandings about dingoes, like being able to judge a dingo’s ancestry by the colour of its coat be it sandy, black, white, brindle, tan patchy or black and tan. The terminology used to refer to a species can influence our underlying attitudes about them, especially when it comes to native and culturally significant animals. “The term ‘wild dog’ is often used in government legislation when talking about lethal control of dingo populations.” “Dingoes are a native Australian animal, and many people don’t like the idea of using lethal control on native animals. “‘Wild dog’ isn’t a scientific term – it’s a euphemism,” says Dr Cairns. The findings challenge the view that pure dingoes are virtually extinct in the wild – and call to question the widespread use of the term ‘wild dog’. Pure dingoes – dingoes with no detectable dog ancestry – made up 64 per cent of the wild canines tested, while an additional 20 per cent were at least three-quarters dingo. “There are rare times when a dog might go bush, but it isn’t contributing significantly to the dingo population.”
“They just aren’t established in the wild.
“We don’t have a feral dog problem in Australia,” said Dr Kylie Cairns, a conservation biologist from UNSW Science and lead author of the study.
Of the remaining one per cent, roughly half were dog-dominant hybrids and the other half feral dogs. The team found that 99 percent of wild canines tested were pure dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids (that is, a hybrid canine with more than 50 per cent dingo genes). The study, published in Australian Mammalogy, collates the results from over 5000 DNA samples of wild canines across the country, making it the largest and most comprehensive dingo data set to date. The study, released just days after MidCoast Council used lethal control on 5 dingoes at Hawks Nest, is hot on the heels of another study which cements the findings – that we are dealing with dingoes and not wild dogs. There is strong evidence that almost all wild canines in Australia are genetically more than half dingo, a new study led by UNSW Sydney shows – suggesting that lethal measures to control ‘wild dog’ populations are primarily targeting dingoes. IT’S time to call a spade a spade and a Dingo a Dingo says Dr Kylie Cairns.
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