"The pattern of hybridisation is really stark now that we have the whole country to look at," says Dr Cairns. This landscape-wide form of lethal control involves dropping meat baits filled with the pesticide sodium fluoroacetate (commonly known as 1080) into forests via helicopter or airplane.
Most hybridisation is taking place in southeast Australia - and particularly in areas that use long-term lethal control, like aerial baiting. While the study found dingo-dog hybridisation isn't widespread in Australia, it also identified areas across the country with higher traces of dog DNA than the national average. "Only then can we have an open public discussion about finding a balance between dingo control and dingo conservation in the Australian bush." "There is an urgent need to stop using the term 'wild dog' and go back to calling them dingoes," says Mr Brad Nesbitt, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of New England and a co-author on the study. This language can contribute to other misunderstandings about dingoes, like being able to judge a dingo's ancestry by the colour of its coat - which can naturally be 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. The newer paper looked at DNA samples from past studies across Australia, including more than 600 previously unpublished data samples. The study builds on a 2019 paper by the team that found most wild canines in NSW are pure dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids. "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," says 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 per cent 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 today 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.
This guide outlines landholder obligations for controlling wild dogs and discusses common control methods.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. This involves landholders, local government officers and other stakeholders working together to apply a range of control methods at a 'landscape' (rather than an individual property) level.Ĭontrol methods include baiting, trapping, shooting, fencing, and the use of livestock guardian animals. Wild dogs cannot be moved, kept (if a dingo), fed, given away, sold or released into the environment without a permit.Įffective wild dog control requires a cooperative 'nil tenure' approach. The wild dog is a restricted invasive animal under the Biosecurity Act 2014, which means all landholders have a responsibility to minimise the risks associated with invasive animals under their control. In Queensland, wild dogs create a number of economic, environmental and social problems - particularly for agricultural businesses.Īn Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre 2009 report estimates wild dogs cost Australia at least $48.5 million per year in livestock losses, disease spread and control. The term 'wild dog' refers collectively to purebred dingoes, dingo hybrids, and domestic dogs that have escaped or been deliberately released.
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