![]() ![]() ![]() "Sandy the desert dingo is intermediate between the wolf and the domestic dogs," concluded Ballard. Among the breeds, Sandy was closer to the German shepherd than the rest. They found the dingo's genome was structurally distinct from the boxer, German shepherd, basenji, Great Dane and Labrador retriever.īut she still shared more similarity with the domestic dogs than with the Greenland wolf. The new research-a global collaboration involving 26 authors from 10 countries-compared the genome of a desert dingo named Sandy, who was rescued in 2014 along with her siblings-to those of five domestic dog breeds and the Greenland wolf. Though not normally aggressive, they aren't especially interested in humans. Some hold that the lean, tan-colored canines, brought to the continent 5,000 to 8,500 years ago, are simply another form of domestic dog, though one which is far harder to tame or keep as a pet. However, "the evolutionary position of the dingo has been debated for a substantial period of time," co-author Bill Ballard of La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne told AFP. “This funding is to aid bushfire recovery, but aerial wild dog baiting doesn’t target invasive animals or ‘wild dogs’ – it targets dingoes.The species-revered in Aboriginal culture but the bane of modern ranchers-has been Australia's top predator since the extinction of Tasmanian tigers last century. “There is a large amount of funding currently going towards aerial baiting inside national parks,” she says. “They’re not protected in NSW and many other states.”ĭr Cairns, who is also a scientific advisor to the Australian Dingo Foundation, says the timing of this paper is important. “Dingoes are a listed threatened species in Victoria, so they’re protected in national parks,” says Dr Cairns. īut despite the valuable role they play in the ecosystem, dingoes are not being conserved across Australia – unlike many other native species. Ī study published last month found the long-term impacts of these changes are so pronounced they are visible from space. Letnic’s previous research has shown that suppressing dingo populations can lead to a growth in kangaroo numbers, which has repercussions for the rest of the ecosystem.įor example, high kangaroo populations can lead to overgrazing, which in turn damages the soil, changes the face of the landscape and can jeopardise land conservation. “Apex predators’ effects can trickle all the way through ecosystems and even extend to plants and soils.” “As apex predators, dingoes play a fundamental role in shaping ecosystems by keeping 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. 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. Spatial patterns of dingo ancestry acrossĪustralia based on DNA testing. ![]()
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