Like all human beings we respond strongly to the danger of our stock or ourselves being attacked — a similar reaction to our fear of sharks, bears, wolves, etc — but must this all-too-human reaction continue to override a dispassionate and realistic assessment of the role of the Dingo in the Australian bush? No one can say for sure when the Dingo arrived, or even how it got here. Did it kill off the Tasmanian Tiger and Devil on the mainland? The answers to these questions are clouded in the sands of time, but we do know some important facts. The Wild Dingo has been around in Australia for as long as the domesticated Dingo — it is a wild animal and not just a feral dog. It does readily crossbreed with domestic dogs introduced by Europeans, but colonies of pure blood dingoes do exist in areas such as Fraser Island and in the escarpment forests of northern NSW. Apart from pythons and goannas, it is the only large, native terrestrial predator on the Australian mainland, and has been for thousands of years. It is also Australia’s only unprotected native mammal.

There is evidence that Dingoes are effective in driving out foxes, helping to ensure the survival of our susceptible small and medium-sized mammals. These marsupials were all happily co-existing with the Dingo until Europeans arrived.

While the NPWS may not want to legislate to protect this declining (and arguably threatened) species, the Dingo is under considerable threat from further hybridisation and could disappear in 50-100 years if present trends continue.

NPWS are now currently attempting to preserve the pure populations in NSW by working with local management plans and the Rural Lands Protection Board to protect livestock and core areas of the purebred Dingo.

Minimising the hybridisation of Dingoes has benefits for stock-owning landowners as they do not usually kill more than they need to eat, while feral dogs and hybrids are notorious for their habit of going into killing sprees.

I say, legislate to protect!

David Paull
Western Woodlands Officer