My non-Australian readers may not know about the Aussie icon, the Dingo (Canis lupus). The dingo is the only large carnivore on mainland Australia, and it is unique as it is also a placental mammal (while most mammals in Australia are marsupials).
Headshot of an Australian Dingo - photo courtsey of Flickr (username: 0ystercatcher).
Aboriginal people inhabited Australia before the invasion by European settlers. It is believed that dingoes entered the Australian environment by trading between aboriginal people and visiting Asian ships. Though they are not strictly a ‘native’ Australian animal, they are practically and are the principal predator on mainland Australia.
While a lot of texts describe dingoes as ‘wild animals’, it seems that the relationship between dingoes and aboriginal people was (and still is) a bit more complex. Dingoes provided companionship, like a dog, to aboriginal people, but also hunted and fended for themselves in packs. It seems dingoes took the best of both worlds – the domesticated tameness of a dog but the ability to hunt, and the independence, of their distant wolf ancestors.
To me, the Australian dingo makes for interesting study for anyone interested in dogs. It seems like the dingo has almost taken reverse domestication – they were imported from Asian countries (approximately 5,000 years ago) as domesticated, but then ‘went wild’ and hunted in Australia. While Coppinger and others talk about wolves becoming dogs, it seems that dogs will then became dingoes again when given the opportunity (at least in Australia).
Screen grab from the ABC Radio National website.
The reason I’m writing about the dingo today is after being reminded about their significance from the ABC Radio National ‘Bush Telegraph’ program’s recent segment called Iconic Animals – The Dingo. For anyone who has an hour free, you are sure to enjoy this program.
This radio program talks about how the dingo entered Australia (briefly), before going into dingo vocalisations, colouring, and conservation. Conservation is a tricky issue – with many farmers being legally able to shoot, trap, bait, and otherwise exterminate dingoes (as they appear to be ‘wild dogs’, and, fundamentally, are wild dogs), while they are also threatened as they are breeding with domesticated dogs to make dingo-dog hybrids. That is, pure dingoes are under threat of extinction (though pure populations do exist). The program looks also at how connected indigenous (aboriginal) people of Australia are to the dingo, in that they believe that dingoes and humans are family.
It’s a broad program, looking at many different issues, but certainly interesting – and I’m sure would be especially interesting to my international readers who have not heard of the dingo before.
Wow, I love this blog post! Dingoes are such an interesting phenomenon.
Thanks for reading, Jette. Glad you think dingoes are interesting, too. 🙂
Great post. And absolutely horrific. I mean the part where they breed these dogs as if they were domesticated.
I watched a segment in Nat Geo featuring Wolves being bred by breeders and sold to earn a dollar or two. I think it’s just pure wrong to force an animal into a different habitat expecting it to adjust immediately.
One of the most disturbing things I heard during the discussion was when people would ask how these wolf-dog hybrids acts, the breeders would simply say, ” oh they’re just like dogs” when they aren’t at all.
I don’t object strongly to the breeding of dingoes in controlled environments – really, it’s for their own good as it’s likely hybridisation will make the dingo extinct if we do not use zoo-like conservation. 🙁
I understand what you mean. But would you like them being bred with domesticated dogs and being sold to novice pet owners? I’m sure you’d disagree with that.
Still, I wouldn’t want them to go extinct either so I’m perfectly all for conservation.
By the way, I passed you the Versatile Blogger Award.
Kindly check the post here. http://www.mydogslove.me/2012/01/two-awards.html
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
The people breeding the dingoes in this radio program were not breeding them for the public, or even for public admission to the facility – they were just breeding them to try to preserve the species. They were desexing the non-pure dingoes to preserve purity.
For the most part, dingoes are a lot like a normal dog… They’re not as aloof and dangerous as a wolf, but they’re not as chummy as a dog… They’re kind of like an extreme spitz breed (the dingo crossbreeds I have met).
When I was listening to this program, I was wondering if allowing dingoes to be registered with the ANKC and compete in dog shows may be a way to preserve the breed/species… I’m gonna mull on it further.
Thanks for the award! Will think about it again. 😀
Hey that’s a good idea! I mean, I’ve never thought of it that way but it can definitely make a difference.
I was just wondering if Dingoes could be made as pets.
Good luck on the award thing
It’s very interesting to learn about the Dingo. I like to be wild sometimes, but I would not want to fend for myself!
Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar
Glad you liked hearing about the dingo, Oskar.
Pingback: The Week in Tweets (8th February) | Some Thoughts About Dogs