There is a broad misinterpretation that the dingo was once a “domestic dog” (Canis familiaris) before he went wild in Australia, and really has developed from the common pye-dogs of Asia. That is totally incorrect. The dingo has always been a wild canid, which developed as the wolf of Australia. Primitive peoples may have utilised puppies for whatever purpose (i.e. watch animals, food source, camp cleaners), but they did this by taking young animals from the wild. Unlike the African Wild Dog, or the Asian Dhole, both of which are older evolutionary prototypes of canidae; the dingo does not need to live in a pack and be taught to hunt to survive. The dingo has his prey drive inbuilt as instinctive behaviour. He is a natural, solitary predator. Pure dingoes, like wolves, are still locked genetically into annual breeding cycles.
He also will fit in with social pack hierarchy, as does the wolf, but this is a learned behaviour. Whilst the pye-dogs may have a shared ancestor thousands of years ago, today they bear no family relationship with the pure Australian dingo. They are modern offshoots of mongrel crosses. If one wishes to hold a belief that a dingo is a domestic dog, then the breed is by far the oldest and purest breed in the world, but it is a naturally evolved one and not man-made. Pure dingoes can never become “domesticated” while they remain pure. They are genetically locked into their primitiveness. Similar to what has occurred globally with wolves, coyotes and other wild canid species, which are all able to interbreed, only by crossing with domesticated breeds can the integrity of this genetic blueprint become impaired. But scientific research regarding this matter is lacking and still needs to be conducted, to understand the full extent of hybridisation.
Not leaving dogs at outstations
Dogs shouldn’t be left alone at outstations for more than 1 day.
When families travel, they should take their dogs with them.
Communities can help protect wild dingo populations by:
Desexed dogs cannot breed with dingoes.
They are also less likely to roam.
EP 03 Not a Dog, a DINGO // How the Dingo is different to our domestic Dog
Even though they are both a type of dog, dingoes are quite different to domestic dogs.
Dingoes are well suited to surviving in the Australian bush. Over thousands of years, dingoes have adapted so that they can breed and hunt without help from people.
Dingoes usually live in strong family packs of between 5 and 10 dingoes. The number of dingoes in the pack depends on how much food is around to support them.
While domestic dogs usually breed twice or more each year, dingoes usually only breed once each year.
Within the pack, most adult female dingoes will get pregnant and have pups. But because food can be hard to find, usually only one litter survives.
Dingoes normally only have between 3 and 5 pups per litter. Domestic dogs can have much lots more pups in each litter, and because people are feeding them, most domestic dog pups can survive.
By hunting, dingoes can help to keep the balance of animals in the Australian bush healthy:
While not all experts agree, some experts think that dingoes might help other wildlife by keeping feral predators like cats and foxes under control.
But, because they can also hunt and kill livestock, in farming areas, dingoes are usually not very popular with farmers or the government.
In places where there is farming, many dingoes are baited or trapped and killed as part of ‘wild dog management programs’.
If hybrid dogs keep breeding with pure dingoes, there will be no more pure dingoes left.
Because domestic and hybrid dogs can cause problems for dingoes, it is important that the EHP knows what the community can do to protect dingoes.