tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/dingoes-221/articlesDingoes – The Conversation2024-02-29T19:06:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233522024-02-29T19:06:40Z2024-02-29T19:06:40ZBaiting foxes can make feral cats even more ‘brazen’, study of 1.5 million forest photos shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575214/original/file-20240213-18-92wlnn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C659%2C2035%2C830&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Rees</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Foxes and cats kill about <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-7-million-foxes-300-million-native-animals-killed-every-year-now-we-know-the-damage-foxes-wreak-177832">2.6 billion mammals, birds and reptiles</a> across Australia, every year. To save native species from extinction, we need to protect them from these introduced predators. But land managers tend to focus on foxes, which are easier to control. Unfortunately this may have unintended consequences. </p>
<p>We wanted to find out how feral cats respond to fox control. In one of the biggest studies on this issue to date, we worked with land managers to set up 3,667 survey cameras in a series of controlled experiments. We studied the effects on cat behaviour and population density. </p>
<p>Our research shows feral cats are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14402">more abundant</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.09849">more brazen</a> after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03200-6">foxes are suppressed</a>. </p>
<p>In some regions, cats need to be managed alongside foxes to protect native wildlife.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This camera trap captured a wide variety of animals, not just cats and foxes, in the Otway Ranges, 2019 (Matthew Rees)</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-7-million-foxes-300-million-native-animals-killed-every-year-now-we-know-the-damage-foxes-wreak-177832">1.7 million foxes, 300 million native animals killed every year: now we know the damage foxes wreak</a>
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<h2>Could feral cats benefit from fox control?</h2>
<p>Foxes and cats were brought to Australia by European colonisers more than 170 years ago. They now coexist across much of the mainland. </p>
<p>While foxes are bigger than cats, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13497">compete for many of the same prey species</a>.</p>
<p>But most wildlife conservation programs in southern Australia only control foxes. That’s largely because controlling foxes is relatively straightforward. Foxes are scavengers and readily take poison baits. Feral cats, on the other hand, prefer live prey. So they’re much more difficult to control using baits. </p>
<p>Consequently, foxes have become the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR05102">most widely controlled</a> invasive predator in Australia, while feral cat control has been relatively localised. </p>
<p>Some native species have thrived following fox control or eradication, but others have continued to decline. For example, one study found numbers of common brushtail possums, Western quolls and Tammar wallabies increased following fox control in southwest Western Australia. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw237">seven other species crashed</a>: dunnarts, woylies, southern brown bandicoots, western ringtail possums, bush rats, brush-tailed phascogales and western brush wallabies.</p>
<p>People suspected controlling foxes could inadvertently free feral cats from competition and aggression, particularly if there were no dingoes around. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An image of a red fox from a camera trap in the study." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575489/original/file-20240213-26-kdcf3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Foxes devastate native wildlife, but may also suppress feral cats.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Rees</span></span>
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<h2>Experimenting with fox control</h2>
<p>To investigate how cats respond to fox control programs, we worked with land managers to run two large experiments in southwest Victoria. Foxes are the top predator in these forests and woodlands, because dingoes have already been removed.</p>
<p>We studied cat behaviour and population density before and after fox control in the Otway Ranges. In a separate study, we compared conservation reserves with and without fox control in the Glenelg region.</p>
<p>We put out 3,667 survey cameras over seven years. The cameras photograph animals as they walk by, allowing us to analyse where and when invasive predators and native mammals are active. </p>
<p>From these photographs, we were also able to identify individual feral cats based on their unique coat markings.</p>
<p>When multiple photographs of one cat were taken by several different cameras, we could track their movement. Combining information on the tracks of all the cats in an area allowed us to estimate cat population density. </p>
<p>It was a painstaking process. We went through almost 1.5 million images manually to check for animals, eliminate false triggers and identify individual cats. </p>
<p>Future research is exploring using <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/when-one-feral-cat-just-isn-t-another-feral-cat">artificial intelligence to streamline the process</a>, but the computer still needs to be taught what to look for. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A grid of six different still images from camera traps showing a variety of different feral cats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575496/original/file-20240214-24-k52l5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">We identified 160 different feral cats across two fox control programs in south-west Victoria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Rees</span></span>
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<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03200-6">sustained, intensive baiting for foxes</a> worked. Areas with more poison baits had fewer foxes. Replacing baits regularly was also worthwhile. </p>
<p>Feral cat density was generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14402">higher in areas with fox control</a>. The strength of this effect varied with the extent and duration of fox management. We found up to 3.7 times as many cats in fox-baited landscapes.</p>
<p>Productive landscapes also supported more cats. There was about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719312674">one feral cat per square kilometre in wet forests</a>, compared with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14402">less than half as many in dry forests</a>. </p>
<p>Feral cat behaviour also varied with fox control and forest type, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14402">including how visible cats were, how far they moved</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.09849">what times of day they were active</a>. </p>
<p>Feral cats appeared more adventurous where fox populations were suppressed. In dry forests, for example, foxes were largely nocturnal, as were most native mammals. Feral cats became more active at night when there were fewer foxes, potentially giving them access to different prey species.</p>
<p>We found some threatened species, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03200-6">long-nosed potoroos, were doing much better</a> in areas with long-term fox control, although others, such as southern brown bandicoots, showed no improvement. </p>
<p>We don’t know how fox control affected smaller native rodents and marsupials, which are likely to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-7-million-foxes-300-million-native-animals-killed-every-year-now-we-know-the-damage-foxes-wreak-177832">most at risk from increased cat predation</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Camera trap image of one of the feral cats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575862/original/file-20240215-28-zi11ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Areas where foxes were controlled had more feral cats. They also tended to be behave differently.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Rees</span></span>
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<h2>A conservation balancing act</h2>
<p>Broad-scale fox control is an important tool in the ongoing battle to protect Australia’s wildlife. Fox baiting is relatively simple and effective. But we have to balance the known benefits of fox control against potential unintended consequences. </p>
<p>Our study reinforces the need to carefully consider what could happen if you only control one pest animal, and to monitor carefully rather than assume that fox control will benefit all native species. We are not saying people should stop fox baiting, because there are clear benefits to species such as long-nosed potoroos. But we need to keep an eye on the cats and might need to also manage their impacts on native prey. </p>
<p>As feral cats are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.09.010">notoriously difficult to control lethally</a>, indirect management may also be helpful. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133915">promoting dense understorey vegetation for native prey to hide in</a> or removing other sources of food that boost cat numbers such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-02131-5">pest rabbits</a>. </p>
<p>Integrated pest management is challenging and expensive but likely needed, especially where feral cats or other pests are thriving alongside foxes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-year-feral-cat-plan-brings-us-a-step-closer-to-properly-protecting-endangered-wildlife-212976">10-year feral cat plan brings us a step closer to properly protecting endangered wildlife</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Rees receives funding from the Australian Government, Parks Victoria, Victorian Government Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, University of Melbourne, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, Conservation Ecology Centre and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. He is affiliated with the Queensland Conservation Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Hradsky receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Government Department of Energy, Enviroment and Climate Action, Parks Victoria and Zoos Victoria. She is a member of the Australian Wildlife Management Society and volunteers with Mange Management </span></em></p>We analysed photos of predators and prey from 3,667 camera traps in southwest Victoria. We found feral cats were more abundant and behaved differently in areas where foxes were baited.Matthew Rees, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIROBronwyn Hradsky, Research Fellow in Ecology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2119042024-01-01T20:35:03Z2024-01-01T20:35:03ZCrocs love feral pigs and quolls have a taste for rabbit – but it doesn’t solve the invasive species problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563781/original/file-20231205-17-652gxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C27%2C4624%2C3433&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the vast Australian continent, feral pigs, feral deer and European rabbits roam in their millions. By different names – wild boar, venison and lapin – these could all be served in a Michelin star restaurant. </p>
<p>Feral and invasive species are becoming popular meals for native wildlife too. For species like the saltwater crocodile and spotted-tailed quoll, the menu is expanding and changing due to the arrival of <a href="https://zenodo.org/records/10004329">invasive alien species</a> – one of the greatest threats to biodiversity globally. </p>
<p>The good news is, many invasive alien species make good tucker. Around the world, native wildlife are dining on increasing numbers of exotic prey. In the United States, endangered <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0820">snail kites</a> — a wetland raptor — crunch through invasive apple snails, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0024299">red-banded snakes</a> swallow North American bullfrogs in China, dingoes devour <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aec.13214">feral sambar deer</a> and <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/rj/RJ22002">goats</a> in Australia, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2010.1512">Sulawesian toads</a> gobble up introduced yellow crazy ants in Indonesia, and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.012422499">golden eagles</a> and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0676">saltwater crocodiles</a> both love eating feral pigs on opposite sides of the Pacific. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="feral pigs in mud" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563784/original/file-20231205-27-m3dbjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Feral pigs are a very damaging invasive species in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Of crocs and pigs</h2>
<p>So can we say these invasives are useful in some sense? Exotic prey can help boost numbers of some native predators. Saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory are rapidly bouncing back <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-northern-territory-does-not-have-a-crocodile-problem-and-salties-do-not-need-culling-209863">after widespread, severe culling</a>. </p>
<p>Using the bones of crocodiles collected through time, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0676">researchers have shown</a> that over roughly half a century, salties have shifted from a diet largely based on fish to a more terrestrial diet, including feral water buffalo and pigs. </p>
<p>This seems like a much-needed good news story for the environment – a natural way to limit feral pigs, one of Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-damaging-invasive-species-on-earth-wild-pigs-release-the-same-emissions-as-1-million-cars-each-year-163250">most widespread and damaging invasive species</a>. At present, though, we don’t know for sure that crocs keep pig numbers down. </p>
<p>Pigs and crocodiles live in the fast and slow lanes, respectively. <a href="https://pestsmart.org.au/toolkit-resource/feral-pig-biology-ecology-and-behaviour/#:%7E:text=Favourable%20conditions%20allow%20feral%20pigs,leads%20to%20diverse%20genetic%20mixing.">Feral pigs</a> feed and breed, and <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/invasive-species/feral-animals-australia/feral-pigs">few things are off the menu</a>. Sows can give birth from around 6 months of age, and produce <a href="https://pestsmart.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/06/Pig.pdf">ten or more piglets in litters</a> once or twice every 12 or so months. </p>
<p>On the other hand, <a href="https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/animals/living-with/crocodiles/about-crocodiles/estuarine">female estuarine crocodiles</a> begin reproducing at around 12 years of age, and do so once a year under the right conditions. Crocodiles cut back on hunting and other activity during cooler months. Together, this means feral pigs can endure relatively high predation rates and still persist in ecosystems in large numbers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eat-locals-swapping-sheep-and-cows-for-kangaroos-and-camels-could-help-our-environment-57349">Eat locals: swapping sheep and cows for kangaroos and camels could help our environment</a>
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<h2>Of quolls and rabbits</h2>
<p>The largest of Australia’s four predatory marsupial quoll species, the spotted-tailed quoll, is known to enjoy <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/AM/AM19069">rabbit</a> even when there is a diverse and abundant selection of native mammals within the same area. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, quolls are now absent or still <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/ZO14029">declining in many places</a>, due likely to competition or predation with the bigger, heavier predators Europeans introduced: feral cats and foxes. In the bush, male cats can be sizeable – exceeding 6 kilos, roughly double the size of your average spotted-tailed quoll. </p>
<p>As quolls have disappeared, rabbits <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO12129">may have taken advantage</a> of the predatory void and expanded. Fast-breeding rabbits are now arguably Australia’s <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC18024">worst invasive alien species</a>. Their sheer numbers support cat and fox populations. </p>
<p>This begs the question – if cats and foxes could be eradicated or greatly reduced in some areas, could we reintroduce quolls to help manage rabbit populations or prevent their return? </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Quolls also like the taste of rats.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Dangerous dinners</h2>
<p>Not all introduced prey make safe meals. </p>
<p>Cane toads have devastated some native species such as northern quolls, which naturally prey on native amphibians but cannot survive toad toxin. </p>
<p>Regrettably, a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-10-31/doubts-raised-over-effectiveness-of-cane-toad-sausages/103003684">recent attempt to train quolls</a> not to eat cane toads appears to have failed. </p>
<p>But other species have learnt to safely eat cane toads, including the rakali (Australian water rat), which removes and eats <a href="https://theconversation.com/eat-your-heart-out-native-water-rats-have-worked-out-how-to-safely-eat-cane-toads-123986">toad hearts and livers with surgical precision</a>. The humble bin chicken (white ibis) has also figured out how to make toads safer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-63699884">by washing them</a>. </p>
<p>European house mice and introduced rats can be easy prey for owls, snakes, and many other native predators. Unfortunately, these easy pickings can become their <a href="https://theconversation.com/mouse-plague-bromadiolone-will-obliterate-mice-but-itll-poison-eagles-snakes-and-owls-too-160995">last suppers</a> – not because the rodents are toxic, but because they may well have eaten rodenticide which makes them easier to hunt. Once a sick, dying rodent is eaten, the predator can in turn be <a href="https://theconversation.com/rat-poison-is-killing-our-beloved-native-owls-and-tawny-frogmouths-and-thats-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-212184">poisoned and die</a>. Scavengers who eat poisoned predators can also die, affecting entire <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-reptiles-may-be-spreading-rat-poison-through-the-food-chain-94922">food chains and ecosystems</a>.</p>
<p>Sometimes predators can find themselves prey, depending on their <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12468">age and size</a>. In Australia, large pythons, goannas and monitor lizards <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2010.2103">eat foxes and cats</a>, but these same reptiles are preyed upon by cats and foxes when younger and smaller. </p>
<h2>Invasive prey aren’t going away</h2>
<p>As time goes on, invasive prey species can become regular meals for native predators – and part of the food web. </p>
<p>When we try to remove invasive prey species from ecosystems, we must take a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-numbers-game-killing-rabbits-to-conserve-native-mammals-97078">big picture view</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01673.x">proceed with great caution</a>. </p>
<p>When feral cats were <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0707414105">killed off</a> on New Zealand’s Little Barrier island, it was done with the best intentions: protect the seabirds nesting there. But with the cats gone, invasive rat populations surged and soon began killing the seabird chicks. </p>
<p>In Australia’s arid regions, we now have experimental evidence to suggest biological controls such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/releasing-a-virus-against-rabbits-is-effective-but-can-make-them-immune-if-let-loose-at-the-wrong-time-176028">rabbit haemorrhagic disease</a> do keep rabbit numbers down, alongside culling and destroying warrens. With the rabbits suppressed, plants and native herbivores can <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.13552">bounce back</a>. This, in turn, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-019-02131-5">pushes cat</a> and fox populations lower, as these two predators maintain their high numbers in arid regions in part due to an abundance of rabbits. </p>
<p>But this doesn’t work in the wetter, more vegetated south-east. Here, there’s little evidence <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13253">rabbit control greatly affects fox populations</a>. </p>
<p>So should we celebrate crocs chomping on pigs and rakali eating cane toads? Of course – it’s a sign that some of our native predators can adapt to these introduced species. But it’s not true for all native wildlife. Our quolls are doing far worse with the new arrivals. </p>
<p>And for every native predator finding new tucker, there are far more cats and foxes eating birds, reptiles, frogs, and small marsupials, while pigs, deer, camels, horses, donkeys, and water buffalo run amok. We have already set these creatures loose – we must use all means possible to try and rein them in. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-least-wanted-8-alien-species-and-diseases-we-must-keep-out-of-our-island-home-212850">Australia’s least wanted – 8 alien species and diseases we must keep out of our island home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211904/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action. Euan is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p>Invasive species such as deer, pigs and rabbits might help boost native predator populations.Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142132023-10-23T03:42:40Z2023-10-23T03:42:40ZFrom meerkat school to whale-tail slapping and oyster smashing, how clever predators shape their world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555150/original/file-20231022-25-p1n5i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C12%2C4146%2C2546&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/family-meerkats-photographed-early-morning-taken-1222216888">Tswains, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the 1980s a single humpback whale in the Gulf of Maine developed the “<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1231976">lobtail feeding method</a>”. This unique hunting method of slapping the water’s surface appears to drive fish into dense schools, making it easier to consume them. Lobtail feeding caught on. Now many humpback whales are doing it.</p>
<p>Ecologists have long thought animals acted on instinct alone. But a growing body of evidence shows many animals, much like us, have complex brains and social lives. </p>
<p>In our new <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(23)00243-4">research</a>, we argue the science of ecology can learn a great deal from the study of animal cognition and culture. Cognition is what goes on in the mind, which determines how animals perceive and respond to the world around them. Culture is the development and spread of socially learned behaviours. These are important – but generally overlooked – mechanisms influencing ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artwork by Keegan Currier showing a group of whales slapping their tails" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552204/original/file-20231004-27-6j0ccn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One whale invented the tail-slapping hunting strategy, which became part of whale culture in the Gulf of Maine over 30 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keegan Currier</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-smarter-the-magpie-the-better-they-can-handle-our-noisy-cities-214387">The smarter the magpie, the better they can handle our noisy cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>More than cogs in the eco-machine</h2>
<p>Research shows prey are adept at learning from previous encounters with predators. They remember what predators <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12087">look like, what they smell like</a> and the <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(22)00140-9">locations and times they are active</a>. </p>
<p>This means every time an animal encounters a predator they can gather knowledge about how to improve their chances of survival.</p>
<p>Predators learn as well. Meerkat pups go to meerkat “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48rhtgtNxRI">school</a>”. Eating dangerous prey such as scorpions is challenging because scorpion toxin can be fatal. To overcome this, meerkat teach their young <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1128727">how to remove scorpion stingers</a>, allowing them to safely eat them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artwork by Keegan Currier illustrates how meerkats school their children in scorpion hunting. A meerkat teacher demonstrates how to remove the stinger before eating the scorpion." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552207/original/file-20231004-31-yuyulj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meerkats school their children in scorpion hunting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keegan Currier</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Animal cognition and social learning allow problems solved and lessons learned during predatory encounters to be shared with friends and family. The development of these cultural behaviours <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X15002213">can spread across entire populations</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-arms-race-over-food-waste-sydney-cockatoos-are-still-opening-kerb-side-bins-despite-our-best-efforts-to-stop-them-189969">An arms race over food waste: Sydney cockatoos are still opening kerb-side bins, despite our best efforts to stop them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shaping how ecosystems function</h2>
<p>Past experience and lessons learned from friends and family inform an animal’s capacity to make complex decisions.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolf-restoration.htm">wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park</a> in 1995, elk and deer had to learn how to avoid being eaten. <a href="http://science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1056466">While initially naive</a>, elk and deer shifted to new locations and changed the times they were active. As a result, these herbivores concentrated their foraging in specific areas, altering the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q">variety of plants</a> and even the physical environment. </p>
<p>Predator hunting cultures can also shape ecosystems. In Thailand’s Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, long-tailed macaques use heavy rocks as stone tools to smash the shells of oysters and other shellfish open and access the food inside. Macaques can become so proficient at shellfish hunting they have driven <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/23647">island-wide declines</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artwork by Keegan Currier illustrates how long-tailed macaques use stone tools to eat oysters. A single macaque holds a rock aloft while others look on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552203/original/file-20231004-21-aqiy2p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stone tool use in long-tailed macaques allows them to eat oysters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keegan Currier</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Humans can erode animal culture</h2>
<p>Rapid environmental changes such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154622000833">urbanisation</a>, <a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.713">climate change</a> and hunting or poisoning can influence animal cognition and animal culture.</p>
<p>Just as trauma, such as from war, influences <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6620122/#:%7E:text=The%20results%20suggest%20that%20experiencing,strength%20of%20the%20negative%20association.">human cognition</a> and <a href="https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/news/entrevistes/2022/018-gloria-munilla.html">culture</a>, the targeted killing of animals can disrupt their cognition and culture. This has consequences for ecosystems. </p>
<p>Killing dingoes, Australia’s only mainland mammalian apex predator, disrupts their <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0006861">family groups</a>. This can result in the loss of important behaviours, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9yRBkHk-r0">pack hunting</a>. This can then prevent dingoes from hunting prey larger than themselves, such as water buffalo and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-should-enlist-dingoes-to-control-invasive-species-24807">foxes and cats</a>. In this way, the loss of pack hunting can drive changes in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01492.x">how ecosystems operate</a> and highlights the importance of animal culture as a unit of nature worth conserving. </p>
<h2>Changing our perceptions of ecology</h2>
<p>Longstanding notions in ecology and conservation biology claim ecosystems function due to evolutionary history alone. In this view, organisms evolve traits to allow them to coexist with each other, so newly arrived species can be fundamentally disruptive. The <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad122/7283147?login=false">inner lives of animals</a> complicate this worldview.</p>
<p>Recognising many animals possess and act upon their awareness of time, self and others, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.html">may even have language</a>, invites us to reconsider ecological relationships might not be so static. Acknowledging animal cognition and culture in ecology means understanding ecological relationships are always changing and shifting. </p>
<p>By studying how the cognition and cultures of animals shape their ecology, we may shed light on the origins of animal intelligence and culture, their importance to life on Earth and how best to preserve non-human culture in an ever-changing world. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/organisms-without-brains-can-learn-too-so-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-thinking-creature-214275">Organisms without brains can learn, too – so what does it mean to be a thinking creature?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The research behind this article was co-authored with Dr Kaitlyn Gaynor, Dr Alexandra Carthey, Dr Arian Wallach, Dr Lauren Stanton and Dr Daniel Ramp who all substantially contributed to the ideas presented throughout.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eamonn Wooster is supported by a Gulbali Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erick Lundgren receives funding from the Villum Foundation (Villum Fonden, Denmark) and the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>Understanding how animals think, learn and interact with one another can inform the science of ecology, as predator and prey shape their world.Eamonn Wooster, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt UniversityErick Lundgren, Postdoctoral fellow, Aarhus University, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059942023-10-20T21:17:54Z2023-10-20T21:17:54ZDid Australia’s First Peoples domesticate dingoes? They certainly buried them with great care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544721/original/file-20230825-29-dja0ah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=335%2C323%2C1347%2C940&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dingoes are an iconic Australian wild animal, <a href="https://theconversation.com/living-blanket-water-diviner-wild-pet-a-cultural-history-of-the-dingo-80189">with close links</a> to Australia’s First Peoples throughout the mainland. Yet the origins and history of these animals are shrouded in obscurity.</p>
<p>The question of whether dingoes are a <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jzo.12134">truly wild</a> or formerly domestic animal that <a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-dogs-and-the-feral-identity-11635">has become feral</a> has eluded a clear answer or consensus amongst scientists for well over a century. </p>
<p>Published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286576">PLOS One today</a>, our new study of dingoes buried alongside First Nations people in ancient times has provided crucial clues to this mystery. Our findings may help change the way we think about the connections between dingoes and people.</p>
<h2>Living alongside people</h2>
<p>When outsiders observed traditional First Peoples’ societies in the 19th and 20th centuries throughout mainland Australia, they noticed many took dingo pups from wild dens and raised them to keep as companions and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/17/2285">for a variety of other purposes</a> including as guards, hunting aids and living “blankets”.</p>
<p>However, these dingoes always returned to the bush to find a mate after reaching about a year of age, seemingly never to return. This is quite unlike our domestic dogs – they may wander, but ultimately tend to stay with their human families in the long term.</p>
<p>The fact most dingoes live without any reliance on people is one of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31716519/">the main reasons</a> scientific opinion differs over whether dingoes should be thought of as domestic animals or not.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of very red coarse sand with several paw prints." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544720/original/file-20230825-29-am7gat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingo tracks in the red desert sand of central Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dingo-canis-tracks-native-wolf-dog-1389629552">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-testing-shatters-wild-dog-myth-most-dingoes-are-pure-206397">New DNA testing shatters 'wild dog' myth: most dingoes are pure</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But is it possible different arrangements between dingoes and Australia’s First Peoples existed before traditional ways of life were disrupted by colonial violence, displacement and disease? Answers might be found in the bones of dingoes that lived with people and were buried after death. </p>
<p>There are historical accounts of funerary and burial rituals of deceased tamed dingoes. Skeletons of dingoes or dogs have been found alongside First Peoples’ burials in many areas of Australia from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03122417.2010.11689380">Arnhem Land</a> to the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303713X13636846944088">Murray-Darling</a> basin, but to date there’s been no comprehensive study of this important cultural practice.</p>
<p>In a search of historical records and findings of dingo burials, we found they were concentrated in the Murray-Darling Basin and on the southern coastlines of New South Wales and Victoria. A secondary, more recent cluster was located in north-western Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of Australia showing a few locations of dingo burials with yellow dots" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528499/original/file-20230526-23-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of Australia illustrating the distribution of dingo burials reported in archaeological, historical and news literature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Loukas Koungoulos</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Buried alongside people</h2>
<p>Historical records and archaeological evidence both show that when dingoes were buried, it was invariably in the manner in which people were buried in the same region. Often, dingoes were buried alongside people.</p>
<p>The act of burial implies a degree of care and belonging to a community. Some archaeologists argue animal burial is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440305001597?via%3Dihub">fundamental sign of domestication</a>. But by examining the skeletons of buried dingoes we can further investigate the life histories of these important animals. </p>
<p>The archaeological site of Curracurrang, a rock shelter in the Royal National Park just south of Sydney, was excavated <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/200906?journalCode=ca">in the 1960s</a>. The excavations found First People were buried there over many centuries.</p>
<p>But our new primary investigations of previously unstudied animal bones reveal the site also contained the skeletons of several dingoes. Radiocarbon dates taken from their bones found the earliest of these were buried around 2,300–2,000 years ago. Dingo burials continued here until the colonial era. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several bone fragments and teeth on a white background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528500/original/file-20230526-25-5fzgqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mandibular and dental fragments of one of the dingo burials from Curracurrang; this was an elderly individual with highly worn teeth, suggesting a lifetime of crunching bones discarded by people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Loukas Koungoulos</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the dingoes were adults, at least six to eight years old – well past the age at which they’d be expected to return to the wild to breed. They had severely worn teeth, indicating a diet heavy in large bones, likely from the scraps of human meals.</p>
<p>In addition, one dingo showed signs of suffering from an aggressive, mobility-restricting form of cancer in the last weeks of its life. It was likely looked after by people during its decline.</p>
<p>Several other burials were pups, less than a month or two in age. Since dingoes of breeding age were also found at Curracurrang, it is entirely probable some of these pups were born there but did not survive long, and were buried soon after. These individuals are the first known evidence of dingo pup burial in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/barkindji-custodians-near-broken-hill-continue-to-care-for-ancestral-dingo-remains-with-help-from-archaeologists-215457">Barkindji custodians near Broken Hill continue to care for ancestral dingo remains with help from archaeologists</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A previously obscured relationship</h2>
<p>Dingo burials reveal aspects of the relationship between Australia’s First Peoples and their dingo companions which had been, until now, obscured.</p>
<p>At Curracurrang, tame dingoes lived to advanced ages alongside people. They ate the same foods and possibly even bore litters of pups within human camps. While traditional views of domestication involve <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-animals-living-with-humans-evolve-such-similar-features-a-new-theory-could-explain-domestication-syndrome-201765">dramatic transformations in appearance</a> and human control over animal reproduction, newer perspectives focus on long-lasting relationships between people and animals. </p>
<p>The evidence from Curracurrang suggests some dingoes, at least in certain settings, were domesticated in ancient times. This doesn’t mean all dingoes were domesticated, nor does it conclusively indicate they originate from domestic dogs. </p>
<p>Most dingoes were, and still are, wild animals with various adaptations to life independent of people in Australian environments. </p>
<p>However, the new findings do mark an important development in our understanding of the deep antiquity and closeness of the connection between Australia’s First Peoples and their native dogs. It attests to long-lasting relationships beyond the transient, temporary associations recorded during the colonial era. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Acknowledgments: we are grateful to the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and community for their permission to undertake research on the Curracurrang dingo remains. We also give thanks to the Australian Museum for facilitating access to these materials.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loukas Koungoulos receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Balme receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shane Ingrey is a member of the La Perouse Aboriginal community and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue O'Connor receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>There’s been a long-standing debate over whether dingoes started out wild or domesticated. One thing is clear – they had a close relationship with First Peoples.Loukas Koungoulos, Postdoctoral research fellow, Australian National UniversityJane Balme, Professor Emerita of Archaeology, The University of Western AustraliaShane Ingrey, Postdoctoral research fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), UNSW SydneySue O'Connor, Distinguished Professor, School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142122023-10-02T01:26:56Z2023-10-02T01:26:56Z‘The boss of Country’, not wild dogs to kill: living with dingoes can unite communities<p>Aside from humans, dingoes are Australia’s largest land-based predator. They are arguably our most maligned, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/amoty/dingo-charismatic-controversial-canid/">misunderstood</a>, and mismanaged <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">native species</a>. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7138/">evidence</a> suggests this iconic canine helps maintain healthy ecosystems. They’re also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-and-humans-were-once-friends-separating-them-could-be-why-they-attack-115917">tourist draw-card</a>. And they hold <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/scientists-first-nations-groups-demand-better-protection-for-dingoes-20230914-p5e4oj.html">deep values for First Nations peoples</a>.</p>
<p>Since colonisation, Australian governments and land managers have <a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-dingoes-is-the-only-way-to-protect-livestock-right-nope-200905">trapped, shot, poisoned and excluded dingoes</a> from large parts of their Country. Policy and practices have frequently overlooked First Nations’ perspectives. </p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be this way. We can hear the diverse voices and values of First Nations peoples, livestock producers, ecologists, and others as we shape future policy and practices. By collaborating and drawing from both Indigenous and Western knowledge, we can find ways to live in harmony with our apex predator. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photograph showing a kangaroo looking at two resting dingoes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550889/original/file-20230928-17-yaehz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes keep kangaroo numbers in check, benefiting vegetation, other wildlife, and livestock graziers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angus Emmott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">The dingo is a true-blue, native Australian species</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How are dingoes currently treated?</h2>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A00485">federal environmental law</a>, any species present in Australia before AD 1400, such as the dingo, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-wa-government-is-wrong-to-play-identity-politics-with-dingoes-102344">classified as native</a>. However, dingoes are not listed nationally as a threatened species. So individual state governments make their own decisions about how to treat them. </p>
<p>In the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria, dingoes are managed as protected wildlife in National Parks and conservation areas but they’re unprotected on private land. </p>
<p>In Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, dingoes are unprotected wildlife. That means they are afforded no protection, even in conservation areas. </p>
<p>But state governments also list “wild dogs” as a priority pest species. That allows – even requires – them to be killed on public and private land. </p>
<p>Some states, such as Victoria, have “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-victorias-dingo-and-wild-dog-bounty-is-doomed-to-miss-its-target-66980">wild dog” bounties</a> where landholders can turn in wild dog (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16998">but more likely dingo)</a> body parts <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/pest-animals/victorian-fox-and-wild-dog-bounty">for money</a>. </p>
<p>The state definitions of “wild dogs” includes dingoes and dingo-dog hybrids. This is based on the mistaken belief that interbreeding between dingoes and dogs was widespread across Australia. </p>
<p>But recent DNA research shows dingo-dog hybrids are rare. <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-testing-shatters-wild-dog-myth-most-dingoes-are-pure-206397">Most wild dingoes have little to no dog ancestry</a>. This has led <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/01/scientists-demand-end-to-dingo-baiting-after-research-reveals-most-are-genetically-pure#:%7E:text=Scientists%20are%20calling%20on%20governments,Indigenous%20Australians%20regarding%20dingo%20management.">scientists</a>, conservationists, and <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/scientists-first-nations-groups-demand-better-protection-for-dingoes-20230914-p5e4oj.html">First Nations peoples</a> to call on state governments to change dingo policies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photograph showing two dead dingos hanging from the branches of a tree in an agricultural landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550887/original/file-20230928-27-ymvw8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Macabre scenes such as this are not uncommon across rural Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angus Emmott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-testing-shatters-wild-dog-myth-most-dingoes-are-pure-206397">New DNA testing shatters 'wild dog' myth: most dingoes are pure</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Stark contrasts in dingo management</h2>
<p>Stretching more than 5,600km across Australia, the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42977-021-00106-z">dingo barrier fence</a> is the longest continuous artificial environmental barrier in the world. It was designed to keep dingoes out of the more productive sheep grazing areas in southeastern Australia. </p>
<p>In South Australia, dingoes south of the “dingo fence” are declared “wild dogs” and subject to an <a href="https://indaily.com.au/news/2023/09/19/strategy-outlines-once-in-a-generation-chance-to-eliminate-sa-wild-dog-threat/">eradication policy</a>. North of the “dingo fence” they are unprotected wildlife.</p>
<p>In contrast, dingoes are <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/pest-animals/priority-pest-animals/wild-dog-dingodog-hybrids-feral-or-wild">listed as threatened throughout Victoria</a>. They are protected on public land (if more than 3 km from a private land boundary). </p>
<p>The existence of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-testing-shatters-wild-dog-myth-most-dingoes-are-pure-206397">isolated and threatened “Big Desert” wilkerr</a> (dingo) population on the border between these two states highlights their differing approaches. </p>
<p>While the Victorian population is partially protected in the Big Desert-Wyperfeld conservation reserve complex, the South Australian wilkerr population is <a href="https://indaily.com.au/news/2023/09/19/strategy-outlines-once-in-a-generation-chance-to-eliminate-sa-wild-dog-threat/">poisoned four times a year</a> inside Ngarkat Conservation Area.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photograph of a handmade sign below the road sign to Clifton that reads 'These sheep-killing mongrels are destroying the wool industry'. Someone crossed out the words 'sheep' and 'wool industry', replaced with 'dingo' and 'ecosystems'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550919/original/file-20230928-29-luj1p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes are regarded as pests by some and ecologically essential by others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angus Emmott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-dingoes-is-the-only-way-to-protect-livestock-right-nope-200905">Killing dingoes is the only way to protect livestock, right? Nope</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What do dingoes mean to First Nations peoples?</h2>
<p>Dingoes hold strong cultural significance for First Nations peoples across Australia. They are considered loved and respected family members that have always been by their sides. A healthy dingo population is seen as essential for healthy Country and healthy people.</p>
<p>Despite the harms of colonisation on dingoes and First Nations, Indigenous people continue to feel and nurture this connection to dingoes. Maintaining their culture means fulfilling the general cultural obligation and rights of First Nations peoples to protect this sacred animal. </p>
<p>This was reinforced at the <a href="https://www.girringun.com/dingoforum2023">National Inaugural First Nations Dingo Forum</a> in Cairns last month (September 15–16). The forum produced a powerful statement signed by more than 20 Nations. </p>
<p>The national dingo declaration is clear: First Nations peoples want an immediate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/18/first-nations-groups-demand-immediate-stop-to-killing-dingos-as-control-method">end to the “genocide”</a> (deliberate killing) of dingoes on Country. Lethal control of dingoes is not acceptable, nor justified. </p>
<p>We join the call for an end to the use of the term “wild dog”, because it’s misleading and disrespectful. Pure dingoes, not feral or hybrid wild dogs, are predominately being killed. </p>
<p>First Nations people want to see the dingo reinstated as “the boss of Country”. They call on governments at all levels to involve First Nations peoples in decisions relating to dingo management, to implement and support educational programs across a variety of platforms and organisations, and to see dingoes protected under legislation. </p>
<p>The recent Victorian decision to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/trapping-shooting-and-poisoning-push-to-protect-victorian-dingoes-falls-short-20230928-p5e8eq.html">maintain lethal control of dingo populations</a> against the wishes of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/scientists-first-nations-groups-demand-better-protection-for-dingoes-20230914-p5e4oj.html">First Nations peoples</a> is extremely disappointing. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1707491762238009724"}"></div></p>
<h2>Non-lethal ways to protect livestock</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdmsheepgoat/2?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu%2Ficwdmsheepgoat%2F2&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages">lethal methods</a> have historically been used to protect livestock from dingoes, there is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12959">growing awareness of their limitations</a>. </p>
<p>Firstly, these methods have not been consistently effective in eliminating livestock losses. In some cases they have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/emr.12138">exacerbated</a> the problem, possibly due to killing and loss of older individuals, which can change the social cohesion of dingo populations, breeding, their movements and how territorial they are. It may also alter how successful they are at hunting kangaroos, causing more attacks on livestock. </p>
<p>Secondly, they have been associated with adverse consequences for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mam.12115">biodiversity</a>. In some cases, having dingoes around can be beneficial for graziers by reducing the total grazing pressure of kangaroos, feral goats, and other herbivores, and in some cases the impacts of feral pigs too. Increasing numbers of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ22002">landholders</a> are recognising this. </p>
<p>Lastly, there is growing consensus these lethal approaches are not aligned with the values of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2020.019">general public</a>, particularly <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2021.028">First Nations peoples</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photograph of a lone dingo standing side-on in a dry grassland" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550923/original/file-20230928-19-564p58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Healthy Country and people requires dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angus Emmott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Non-lethal approaches to managing dingoes are gaining prominence as they are more environmentally <a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">sustainable and compassionate</a>. These <a href="https://hsi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/HSI-Predator-Smart-Farming-Digital.pdf">approaches</a> prioritise coexistence by reducing conflict between dingoes and human interests while allowing dingoes to persist in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR16161">landscapes</a>.</p>
<p>One of the most promising <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2020.024">non-lethal methods</a> involves guardian animals, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR23008">livestock-guarding dogs</a>, llamas, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-19/donkeys-to-protect-stock-in-nsw/102741256">donkeys</a>. These guardian animals establish protective bonds with livestock and effectively deter dingoes from approaching, reducing livestock losses for graziers. </p>
<p>Additionally, there is growing interest in developing innovative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/PC20022">dingo deterrents</a>, such as electric fencing and devices that emit loud noises, smells or visual stimuli, to discourage interaction between livestock and dingoes.</p>
<p>Initiatives promoting best practices for animal husbandry, including secure fencing, corralling, shepherding, and reducing access to resources (such as water and carcasses), play a crucial role in diminishing the attractiveness of livestock as prey to dingoes.</p>
<h2>Working and walking together</h2>
<p>By <a href="https://theconversation.com/academia-can-help-humans-and-large-carnivores-coexist-115467">promoting coexistence</a> and exploring and investing in innovative non-lethal solutions, we can strike a balance between safeguarding human interests, preserving the vital ecological role that dingoes perform, and respecting First Nations’ culture. In doing so, it is our hope that <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/csp2.304">communities will be more united</a> than divided. </p>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge retired graziers Angus and Karen Emmott and family from far North Queensland. Their personal story about dingoes at Noonbah Station in Queensland’s Channel Country helped inform our article, and we consider Angus a co-author.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action. Euan is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bradley Smith is an unpaid director of the Australian Dingo Foundation, a non-profit environmental charity that advocates for dingo conservation. He also serves as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) dingo working group, which is part of their Species Survival Commission (Canids Specialist Group).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kylie M Cairns receives funding from the Australian Dingo Foundation, New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society, NSW Koala Strategy and Australia and Pacific Science Foundation. She is a scientific advisor to the Australian Dingo Foundation, the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation and serves as co-chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) dingo working group which is part of their Species Survival Commission (SSC) Canid Specialist Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonya Takau is the founder of Dingo Culture, a digital media platform for her own personal advocacy work for the Dingo that also provides the Aboriginal perspective about the Dingo.
Sonya also holds the following positions:
Director - Defend the Wild (Not for Profit organisation that advocates for wildlife)
Director - Mamu Health Service Limited (Not for Proft organisation based in Innisfail, North Queensland)
Committee Member - IRAC (Indigenous Reef Advisory Committee) which acts in an advisory capacity to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Board.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Whitney Rassip does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s time to reconsider our relationship with the dingo. By collaborating and drawing from both Indigenous and Western knowledge, we can find ways to live in harmony with our apex land predator.Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityBradley Smith, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, CQUniversity AustraliaKylie M Cairns, Research fellow, UNSW SydneySonya Takau, Girringun Aboriginal Corporation Communications Officer and Founder of Dingo Culture, Indigenous KnowledgeWhitney Rassip, Girringun Aboriginal Corporation Indigenous Protected Areas Coordinator and Acting Executive Officer, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067522023-05-31T20:07:32Z2023-05-31T20:07:32Z‘An exciting possibility’: scientists discover markedly different kangaroos on either side of Australia’s dingo fence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529258/original/file-20230531-29-47k37p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C4977%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s dingo fence is an internationally renowned mega-structure. Stretching more than 5,600 kilometres, it was completed in the 1950s to keep sheep safe from dingoes. But it also inadvertently protects some native species.</p>
<p>This makes the fence an unintentional experiment in the relationship between predators and prey. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyad053">new research</a> examined how the fence affects a <a href="https://theconversation.com/dingo-dinners-whats-on-the-menu-for-australias-top-predator-103846">favourite prey</a> of the dingo: red kangaroos.</p>
<p>We found young kangaroos on the side exposed to dingoes grew more quickly than their protected counterparts. This has potentially big repercussions for the health of these juveniles.</p>
<p>The merits of the dingo fence are hotly debated, and there have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-move-the-worlds-longest-fence-to-settle-the-dingo-debate-37155">calls</a> to pull it down or move it. That’s why we must seek a better understanding of how the fence affects the animals that live along it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="fence separating red landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529259/original/file-20230531-19-bc1bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s dingo fence runs for more than 5,600 kilometres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Stressful’ lives</h2>
<p>The dingo fence, formally known as the “<a href="https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/biosecurity/invasive-plants-animals/animals/barrier-fences/wild-dog-barrier-fence-panel">wild dog barrier fence</a>”, runs through Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. It protects sheep and cattle to the southeast.</p>
<p>Extensive fencing can fragment habitats and disrupt ecosystems. Maintaining the fence costs about <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-australia-afford-the-dingo-fence-7101">A$10 million per year</a>. For these and other reasons, some have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42977-021-00106-z">suggested</a> the fence be pulled down. </p>
<p>But how would removing the fence affect kangaroos that have lived without dingoes for up to 70 years? Our research sought to answer this question.</p>
<p>We assessed 166 red kangaroos from two isolated populations on either side of the fence in far northwest NSW. We did this using data collected as part of a licensed shooting program. We compared population size, age structure, sex ratio, growth rate and skull shape.</p>
<p>We expected kangaroos north of the fence – those hunted by dingoes – to differ from their dingo-free cousins to the south. That’s because their lives are more stressful, especially for young kangaroos and females that are <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/wr9810255">killed by dingoes more often</a> than adult males.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-dingoes-is-the-only-way-to-protect-livestock-right-nope-200905">Killing dingoes is the only way to protect livestock, right? Nope</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="female kangaroo scratches while joey lies nearby" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529261/original/file-20230531-15-19qmek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Female and young red kangaroos are targeted by dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>As anticipated, we found more young and female kangaroos in the dingo-protected population south of the fence. But the story is more complex than that.</p>
<p>Young kangaroos south of the fence, up to about the age of four years, grew more slowly than those in the north. They were substantially smaller and lighter than their dingo-exposed counterparts.</p>
<p>This raises an exciting possibility: that the growth of kangaroos south of the fence has slowed in the absence of the dingo threat. </p>
<p>But maybe there was just more plant food available in the north, where there are fewer kangaroos compared to the south. Was this the reason the northern kangaroos grew more quickly?</p>
<p>As it turns out, no. We assessed the vegetation on each side of the fence using a decade of satellite measurements. We found there was probably less, not more, food overall for kangaroos in the north compared to the south.</p>
<p>More detailed investigation is needed into whether the types of plants differed on each side of the fence. But our results suggest the different growth rates were driven by predators, not food availability.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="wire fence on red earth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529262/original/file-20230531-23-g4guwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There was probably less vegetation north of the dingo fence than in the south.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>This raises important questions</h2>
<p>The differences between populations are even more striking considering the dingo fence in the area we studied was in disrepair until 1975. Before then, dingoes and kangaroos probably moved freely. So the changes we observed could have come about in as little as 17 kangaroo generations. </p>
<p>This would be unusually fast for an evolutionary adaptation. Instead, we suspect it’s the result of a more immediate response to the absence of dingoes, such as lower concentrations of stress-related hormones. These affect the health of mammals, and might have affected kangaroo growth rates in this case.</p>
<p>After about the age of four, the protected kangaroos had caught up and were the same size as their unprotected counterparts. But the unprotected kangaroos would have invested a lot more bodily resources into growing so quickly. </p>
<p>This would have left less energy for the animals to develop important functions such as their immune or reproductive systems. Or they might have had less fat reserves. </p>
<p>Conversely, protected kangaroos might have been healthier, or more fertile, because of their slower growth rates. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-testing-shatters-wild-dog-myth-most-dingoes-are-pure-206397">New DNA testing shatters 'wild dog' myth: most dingoes are pure</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="two dingoes in the outback" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529263/original/file-20230531-15-ndetd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The research raises questions about how mammals respond to changes such as the absence of dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Understanding the mammal response</h2>
<p>Our study involved only a single sample at one point in time. But it’s the first to comprehensively assess differences in a dingo prey species on either side of a fence. </p>
<p>Our results provide an insight into how prey populations might fare if the dingo fence is removed. But the implications are potentially even broader.</p>
<p>We must now investigate whether other native mammal species share similar differences across the fence. If so, this could help us predict how animals elsewhere in Australia are coping with rapid environmental change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vera Weisbecker receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH; CE170100015) and Future Fellowship FT180100634. She is a member of the Greens Party. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey J. A. Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frédérik Saltré receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>D. Rex Mitchell receives funding from Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH). </span></em></p>The merits of the dingo fence are hotly debated, and there have been calls to pull it down. We need a better understanding of how the mega-structure affects species that live along it.Vera Weisbecker, Associate Professor, Flinders UniversityCorey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders UniversityFrédérik Saltré, Research Fellow in Ecology for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders UniversityRex Mitchell, Postdoctoral Fellow, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2063972023-05-29T20:08:40Z2023-05-29T20:08:40ZNew DNA testing shatters ‘wild dog’ myth: most dingoes are pure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528762/original/file-20230529-27-ipn9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C10%2C3299%2C2226&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dingo-wild-194508560">Jun Zhang, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades, crossbreeding between dingoes and dogs has been considered the greatest threat to dingo conservation. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.13416">Previous DNA studies</a> suggested pure dingoes were virtually extinct in Victoria and New South Wales. </p>
<p>Reinforcing this belief, the term “wild dog” has replaced the word dingo in most legislation and policy across Australia. “Wild dog” is a <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/pest-animals-and-weeds/pest-animals/wild-dogs">coverall term</a> defined as “any dog living in the wild, including feral dogs, dingoes and their hybrids”. It’s the term used on signs in National Parks and other lands advertising the target and presence of meat baits impregnated with the poison 1080. These baits are laid to reduce the risk of wild dogs preying on livestock.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A white sign with red text stating that 1080 wild dog and fox poison baits are laid in the area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528604/original/file-20230526-15-8wyzp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1080 wild dog and fox baiting sign from inside Blue Mountains National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kylie Cairns</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16998">Our new research</a> used the latest genetic testing methods to establish the ancestry of wild dogs across Australia. Most of the 307 wild animals we tested were pure dingoes. Only a small proportion of wild dingoes had dog ancestry, probably from a great- or great-great-grandparent. There were no “first-cross” (50/50) hybrids or feral dogs in our wild-caught sample. </p>
<p>Essentially, all the “wild dogs” were dingoes. The results challenge public perceptions and call into question well established management practices. We argue the term “wild dog” should be removed from public language and legislation. Dingo and feral dog should be used instead. And the role of the dingo as Australia’s apex predator should be restored, for we are the greatest threat to their existence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dingo with a black muzzle walking on a sandy beach with green scrub in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2044%2C1361&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528615/original/file-20230526-15-ysfl49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pure dingo from Myall Lakes walking on a sand dune.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chontelle Burns/Nouveau Rise Photography</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dingoes-should-be-considered-native-to-mainland-australia-even-though-humans-introduced-them-172756">Why dingoes should be considered native to mainland Australia – even though humans introduced them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Better results from better tests</h2>
<p>The dingo (<em>Canis dingo</em>) has been in Australia for 5,000 to 11,000 years. But while dingoes are genetically distinct from domestic dogs, they can breed with them.</p>
<p>Scientific support for the idea that few pure dingoes remain in eastern Australia came from skull measurement tests developed in the 1980s and a DNA test developed in the 1990s. </p>
<p>Applying these approaches, Victoria listed dingoes as a threatened species after finding just 1% of animals killed in pest control programs were pure dingoes. Similarly in NSW “predation and hybridisation by feral dogs (<em>Canis familiaris</em>)” was listed as a key threatening process in 2009. </p>
<p>But DNA testing methods have improved since then. When we compared old and new DNA testing methods in our study, we found the original method frequently misidentified pure dingoes as hybrids. This is because the technique used a relatively small number of DNA markers, only 23. We used 195,000 DNA markers. </p>
<p>A DNA marker is a genetic change that can be used to study differences between species, populations or individuals. This is the same sort of technology used for human ancestry or family tree testing. In general, more DNA markers means more information about an individual and more accurate DNA test results.</p>
<p>The older method was also unable to account for geographic variation in dingoes. We found evidence of at least four populations or varieties of dingo in Australia, which we call: West, East, South and Big Desert.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map showing the distribution of the four wild dingo populations across Australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528608/original/file-20230526-4196-7rhm6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map showing the distribution of the four wild dingo populations across Australia from Cairns et al. 2023.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So when we looked at Victorian dingoes, nearly 90% of the animals we tested were pure dingoes. In NSW, over 60% of the animals we tested were pure dingoes and only two animals had less than 70% dingo DNA. </p>
<p>Dog ancestry was more common in NSW and Queensland dingo populations where there were intensive lethal control programs, such as aerial 1080 poison baiting, along with higher numbers of pet domestic dogs. One explanation is that lethal control programs carried out during the dingo breeding season may increase the risk of dingo-dog hybrids, as it does for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.61">wolves and coyotes in North America</a>. Australian aerial baiting programs can kill up to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR18188">90% of the dingoes in an area</a>, reducing the availability of mates for any remaining dingoes.</p>
<p>These findings have important implications for our knowledge of dingoes and how they are managed. We need to ensure public policy is built on robust, up-to-date knowledge of dingo identity and ancestry. </p>
<p>Wildlife managers and scientists should ensure that the DNA testing methods they use are accurate and fit for purpose. It is crucial that updated genetic surveys be carried out on dingoes, using the latest DNA methods to inform local dingo management plans. </p>
<p>Dingo conservation plans should consider the presence of geographic variation and the differing threats the four dingo populations may be facing. </p>
<p>Currently, dingoes fall into a grey area: because they are both a native animal and agricultural pest; and because their identity has become ambiguous due to the widespread adoption of the term wild dog.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/vertebrate-pests/pest-animals-in-nsw/wild-dogs/wild-dog-control">Lethal control programs</a> have been extended into conservation areas, including national parks, with the primary purpose of minimising livestock losses on neighbouring lands. </p>
<p>During 2020-2021, NSW dropped more than <a href="https://www.adammarshall.com.au/southern-hemispheres-largest-aerial-wild-dog-baiting-program-takes-off/">200,000 1080 poisoned meat-baits</a> from planes and helicopters to suppress “wild dogs”. </p>
<p>This year Victoria <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/bounty-back-in-2023#:%7E:text=The%20Fox%20and%20Wild%20Dog,have%20been%20collected%20in%20Victoria.">renewed</a> its “wild dog bounty” program. It pays landholders A$120 per wild dog body part. Under the scheme, about 4,600 “wild dog” body parts have reportedly been redeemed since 2011. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dingo family of three in the snow on the southern alps of Australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528770/original/file-20230529-17-zoybsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alpine dingoes can be found at high elevations along eastern Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle J Photography, Cooma, NSW.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-dingoes-is-the-only-way-to-protect-livestock-right-nope-200905">Killing dingoes is the only way to protect livestock, right? Nope</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Restoring an apex predator</h2>
<p>Our study shows the term “wild dog” is a misnomer. The animals being targeted for eradication as an “invasive” pest are native dingoes. </p>
<p>The threat of dingo-dog hybrids has also been exaggerated. While dingoes can pose a threat to some livestock, as apex predators they play an essential role in <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/dingo-effects-ecosystem-visible-space">maintaining healthy ecosystems</a>. The dingo keeps natural systems in balance by preying on large herbivores and excluding invasive predators such as feral cats and foxes. This in turn benefits small marsupials, birds and reptiles. We need to balance managing dingo impacts on agriculture against ensuring they can perform their vital environmental functions.</p>
<p>The term “wild dog” should be removed from public language and legislation. Dingo and feral dog should be used instead. This change in terminology would accurately reflect the fact that a vast majority of the wild canines in Australia are pure dingoes – and the hybrids are predominantly dingo in their genetic make-up. </p>
<p>A name change would also align with calls from <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2021.028">Australia’s First Nations people</a> to respect and acknowledge the dingo as a native and culturally significant species.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-the-dingo-to-the-tasmanian-devil-why-we-should-be-rewilding-carnivores-199879">From the dingo to the Tasmanian devil - why we should be rewilding carnivores</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kylie M Cairns receives funding from the Australian Dingo Foundation, New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society, NSW Koala Strategy and Australia and Pacific Science Foundation. She is a scientific advisor to The Australian Dingo Foundation, New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society, the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation and is co-chair of the IUCN Canid Specialist Dingo Working Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Crowther receives funding from Australian Research Council, Australia and Pacific Science Foundation and the NSW Koala Strategy</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Letnic receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australia and Asia Pacific Science Foundation</span></em></p>Dingoes are not wild dogs, research reveals. Most of the 307 wild animals sampled in this study were pure dingo. Australia’s apex predator deserves our respect after thousands of years on this land.Kylie M Cairns, Research fellow, UNSW SydneyMathew Crowther, Associate professor, University of SydneyMike Letnic, Professor, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032332023-04-06T06:17:01Z2023-04-06T06:17:01ZDingo attacks are rare – but here’s what you need to know about dingo safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519459/original/file-20230405-24-2gehpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=180%2C278%2C4775%2C3358&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luis Cristofori/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has an ambivalent relationship with dingoes – to some they are almost magical representations of our arid landscapes, responsible for holding back a tide of <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01650.x">foxes</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2011.02256.x?casa_token=0wS8ufs3vgwAAAAA%3AupyEmh_kPfnRq9BIa0unbC2t-7Aru5-RD23gAFdDum3iQb8c9rkLrSBU4hPaRBLjPgPseJYOAzNLqDbu">feral cats</a>, as found in some studies.</p>
<p>To others they are pests, dangerous marauders of our cattle and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/avj.12075?casa_token=UeLjRsMsmosAAAAA%3AsZD54kJQXIhGnLxH2_ldQvXYoZXBdMt9TCmXd0N6L456W-YzRL6qFf2zNfjXuBPHxgU0y4HHjfSFoROm">sheep</a>. We even argue about what <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC18018">to call them</a>. They also loom large in our national conscience as <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-chamberlain-case-the-human-cost-of-wrongful-conviction-7730">potential killers of children</a>, as shown by <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/girl-remains-in-hospital-after-dingo-attack-20230404-p5cxvw.html">a recent dingo attack on a child on K'gari</a> (Fraser Island).</p>
<h2>Why do dingoes attack?</h2>
<p>Dingo attacks on humans are very rare, and in most cases where humans have been attacked, the dingoes have become habituated to humans and have perhaps <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-23/mine-worker-by-dingo-in-pilbara-telfer/10024610">lost some fear of them</a>.</p>
<p>This is usually because they have come to associate people with food, though not necessarily <em>as</em> food. This kind of habituation is seen in many animals across the world, including large carnivores such as <a href="https://bear.org/bear-facts/black-bears/bears-and-humans/">bears</a> and <a href="https://urbancoyoteresearch.com/coyote-info/how-avoid-conflicts-coyotes">coyotes</a> in North America, and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fani10122400">spotted hyaenas</a> in Ethiopia.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-04/parents-to-watch-children-dingo-attack-kgari-fraser-island/102183622">The recent attack on K’gari</a> has another facet, though. The child was attacked while sitting in shallow water at the beach, and the event highlights that dingoes can be predators. There is no indication the dingo was trying to take food from the child; it’s possible it was tentatively seeing if the child was suitable as prey.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign that outlines the danger from dingoes and shows steps people can take to exercise caution" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519456/original/file-20230405-617-j89447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In areas like K'gari dingo safety information is distributed to keep everyone safe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Annalucia/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Children as prey</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/am/am16026">2017 study</a> of dingo attacks on K’gari showed most of the dingoes involved were young ones, and children who were some distance from an adult were often the recipients of attacks.</p>
<p>In 2001, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/01/patrickbarkham">nine-year-old boy was tragically killed</a> by two dingoes on K’gari when he was standing some distance away from the rest of his family and tripped and fell over. A five-year-old boy who was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/boy-attacked-dingo-k-gari-fraser-island-bite-qld/101786912">badly bitten by dingoes on K’gari in 2022</a> was attacked when his elder brother walked away from him.</p>
<p>In all these cases, although there were other people nearby, the dingoes selected the smallest and most separated person. This suggests that a hunting response was triggered – a child is not much bigger than normal dingo prey (such as wallabies). The dingoes involved were perhaps young and exploratory.</p>
<p>In fact, you can often see such reactions in zoo animals – lions, tigers and other big cats often ignore adult humans looking at them, but become excited <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO56Ggeq0MQ">when they see a child</a>; the smaller size seems to trigger a predatory response. </p>
<h2>How can you stay safe from dingoes?</h2>
<p>The bottom line is dingoes are wild animals and can sometimes act as predators towards us, especially the smallest humans.</p>
<p>Dingoes are found across Australia, though they are less common in pastoral areas where lethal control occurs. They tend to avoid people wherever possible. K'gari dingoes are protected for their high conservation value, because they show little evidence of inbreeding with domestic dogs. As a result, these island dingoes are much bolder. Visitors need to <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/157232/be-dingo-safe-flyer.pdf">treat them with respect</a>.</p>
<p>So how do we stay safe? We should always be on high alert around such animals, especially in places where dingoes are more common and bolder. As with any wildlife, we should leave dingoes alone as much as possible, and keep a respectful distance. We also should avoid leaving food around, which could attract attention in the first place.</p>
<p>But if you do encounter a dingo (or several), here’s what to do:</p>
<ul>
<li>stay alert and keep a safe distance</li>
<li>avoid being alone or, if in a group, don’t spread too far out</li>
<li>stay close to any children in your group</li>
<li>don’t run or turn your back on the dingo, as this may trigger an attack.</li>
</ul>
<p>People often feel they should not act aggressively if approached by a carnivore, but studies on <a href="https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Deutschland/Report-Wolf-attacks-2002-2020.pdf">wolves</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3782149?casa_token=liLnyxwUodIAAAAA%3AOyPJW3FlNocDAuIROQRH_Ujq1eH93_sTooih0t4dmbokqxphEsssy9-D6QrTfRbGQWLcbKLldpQgRYrvDfoG3IC0ir8R4hESL7C9BXbiSJduneBbbYY">pumas</a> suggest that shouting and throwing things is actually more likely to prevent an attack – don’t be afraid to resort to this if you feel threatened.</p>
<p>Anything that makes you, or the people with you, seem less like prey – less enticing – is good. Stay safe, but most importantly, respect these animals for the wild creatures they are.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203233/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Bateman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When we co-exist with predators, it’s inevitable to have dangerous encounters, especially when they’re habituated to people.Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2009052023-03-15T00:18:05Z2023-03-15T00:18:05ZKilling dingoes is the only way to protect livestock, right? Nope<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513571/original/file-20230306-18-cc9p4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C31%2C2946%2C1441&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since European colonisation, farmers have often viewed dingoes as the enemy, waging war against them to protect their livestock. Farmers felt they had no option but to eradicate dingoes using <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQt8zTL6_M">traps</a>, shooting, poisoned baits (such as 1080) and building a 5,600km long <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-09/dingo-fence-map-ecology-farming-predator-sheep-extinction/101711608">dingo fence</a>, the world’s longest. </p>
<p>Killing dingoes costs millions of dollars each year. But it hasn’t resolved the conflict. In many cases it has made the threat to livestock worse by breaking up dingo families and removing experienced adults which hunt larger, more mobile prey. </p>
<p>The alternative? As some farmers are discovering, there are unexpected benefits of learning to coexist with dingoes instead. As Western Australian cattle grazier David Pollock told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I reckon my dingoes are worth $20,000 each, probably more. So, killing them would be the last thing that I did.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Can dingoes really help graziers?</h2>
<p>Yes. In many cases, they can be <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/RJ/pdf/RJ22002">allies for graziers</a> by reducing the competition for pasture from wild herbivores such as kangaroos and goats, as well as killing or scaring off <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/612ee136efc1241e1fcc567e/t/632a5a9caa8c310d83239c59/1663720096216/Top+predators+as+biodiversity+regulators-+the+dingo+Canis+lupus+dingo+as+a+case+study+-+Letnic+et+al.pdf">foxes and feral cats</a>. </p>
<p>As our understanding of the importance of predators has grown, a new approach has taken root: human-wildlife coexistence. Recently recognised by the United Nations <a href="https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/e6d3/cd1d/daf663719a03902a9b116c34/cop-15-l-25-en.pdf">Convention of Biological Diversity</a>, this field offers a path to stem the global loss of biodiversity by balancing the costs and benefits of living alongside wildlife. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2023.1126140/full">new research</a> lays out seven pathways to shift from the routine killing of dingoes towards coexistence. </p>
<h2>What does coexistence look like?</h2>
<p>One path to coexistence is supporting graziers to adopt effective tools and strategies to reduce the loss of livestock while capitalising on the benefits of large predators. This is known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7568737/pdf/13280_2020_Article_1340.pdf">predator-smart farming</a></p>
<p>Our research on this area has led to a new <a href="https://hsi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/HSI-Predator-Smart-Farming-Digital.pdf">Australian guide</a>. This approach relies on a variety of effective non-lethal tools and practices to protect livestock three main ways:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>humans or guardian animals such as dogs and donkeys watch over and defend livestock from dingoes, as well as using fencing to create a physical barrier</p></li>
<li><p>using knowledge about dingo biology and behaviour to find better deterrents, such as the use of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bradley-Smith-28/publication/343874447_Co-existing_with_dingoes_Challenges_and_solutions_to_implementing_non-lethal_management/links/5f59702e92851c07895859ab/Co-existing-with-dingoes-Challenges-and-solutions-to-implementing-non-lethal-management.pdf">lights, sounds or smells</a> </p></li>
<li><p>stronger land management and livestock husbandry to increase the productive
capacity of pastures and livestock resilience.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This approach helps ensure the livelihoods of farmers remain resilient and makes the most of the benefits of dingoes for <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/RJ/pdf/RJ22002">productive agricultural landscapes</a> and ecosystem health.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513304/original/file-20230302-2032-g1vitd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This artist’s impression of a predator smart farm shows many different deterrent methods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amelia Baxter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As one New South Wales cattle producer found, these approaches work. He told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Three years ago, we were losing 53% of our calves to dingoes. We started looking into alternatives that were cost and time effective and decided to try guardian donkeys. We purchased two jacks (male donkeys) and now we have 94% calving rate. Donkeys saved our business. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="guardian donkey" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514080/original/file-20230307-30-s43pyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guardian donkeys are effective dingo deterrents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what’s stopping us?</h2>
<p>We now know it’s entirely possible to live and farm alongside dingoes. So why do we still resort to lethal control? </p>
<p>Inertia is one barrier to change. The default option is to kill dingoes. Laws, policies and funding by government and industry have institutionalised lethal control.</p>
<p>But there are other barriers, such as a lack of funding for different approaches from government and a lack of support from the community and graziers. Despite this resistance the number of graziers adopting predator smart farming is growing. </p>
<p>To overcome these barriers, we believe it’s important to undertake research alongside graziers to field-test and demonstrate how these methods actually work, and which combinations work best. </p>
<p>Changes like this take time. We also have to build connections and rapport through agricultural networks, as well as tackle the institutional infrastructure built up around dingo control. </p>
<p>It’s natural for farmers, graziers and state government representatives to be sceptical of such a big change. But the status quo isn’t working. Living alongside dingoes could help us make some of the fundamental changes needed to stop the loss of biodiversity. </p>
<p>To that end, public awareness and talking about this openly can help bring something which has long gone unquestioned into the spotlight. </p>
<p>Our research emerged from in-depth interviews with Australian livestock producers, ecologists, conservation and animal welfare groups, industry representatives and policy makers as well as field observations and analysis of Australia’s <a href="https://wilddogplan.org.au/wp-content/themes/nwdap/docs/NWDAP2020-2030.pdf">wild dog action plan</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="sheep farm australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515341/original/file-20230314-20-pxmncn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coexisting with dingoes could be a win-win for livestock farmers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If we do make progress towards coexisting with dingoes, we could embed predator-smart techniques in the way we farm to boost biodiversity, landscape resilience, food security and livelihoods. We would bring back dingoes as apex predators and regulators of healthy ecosystems. Politics would take a step back, in favour of scientific, evidence-based approaches and First Nations input into environmental policies. </p>
<p>This is not hypothetical. Graziers and landholders <a href="https://landholdersfordingoes.org/">already using</a> predator-smart tools and strategies report many benefits. They include:</p>
<ul>
<li>fewer animals injured or killed by dingoes</li>
<li>less time spent stalking and killing dingoes</li>
<li>lower total grazing pressure from feral grazers such as goats</li>
<li>boosting pasture growth and livestock profitability. </li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://landholdersfordingoes.org/">Landholders for Dingoes</a> promotes the work of landholders who are coexisting with dingoes. </p>
<p>It’s time to modernise Australia’s approach to dingoes. This approach offers a potential win-win for farmers and dingoes, as well as significant gains for nature.</p>
<p>But to make this happen, we will have to shift our attitude towards dingoes, gain support from graziers and other stakeholders, and make non-lethal coexistence tools and approaches the new standard practice.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-the-dingo-to-the-tasmanian-devil-why-we-should-be-rewilding-carnivores-199879">From the dingo to the Tasmanian devil - why we should be rewilding carnivores</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Boronyak was funded by the University of Technology Sydney under the UTS Research Excellence Scholarship. She is is a research affiliate of the University of Technology Sydney and Humane Society International Australia</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bradley Smith is an unpaid director of the Australian Dingo Foundation, a non-profit environmental charity
that advocates for dingo conservation. He also serves as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) dingo working group, which is part of their Species Survival Commission (Canids Specialist Group).</span></em></p>For more than 200 years, European farmers have killed dingoes to protect livestock. But living alongside dingoes benefits nature - and actually helps graziersDr. Louise Boronyak, Research Affiliate, University of Technology SydneyBradley Smith, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998792023-02-20T02:25:42Z2023-02-20T02:25:42ZFrom the dingo to the Tasmanian devil - why we should be rewilding carnivores<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510763/original/file-20230217-2564-3bvtm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C15%2C5083%2C3150&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pack-dingoes-on-fraser-island-1403646581">Dominic Jeanmaire/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>No matter where you live, <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-is-the-apex-predator-of-the-world-187616">apex predators</a> and large carnivores inspire awe as well as instil fear.</p>
<p>Large predators have been heavily persecuted and removed from areas where they once lived because of <a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-sharks-wolves-and-other-top-predators-wont-solve-conflicts-96626">conflict</a> with livestock graziers.</p>
<p>Beyond their large teeth, sharp claws and iconic status, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1205106">research</a> is finding they are crucially important in ecosystems. So there is considerable interest in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.172235">returning large carnivores</a> to areas where they once lived, as part of a shift towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/rewilding-four-tips-to-let-nature-thrive-157441">rewilding</a>. </p>
<p>Bringing back carnivores is <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rewilding/2D3CFD33718F14F641AEF83FA1DB21AE">not without risk</a>, but it’s a potentially powerful conservation tool. </p>
<p>Rewilding dingoes and Tasmanian devils in Australia could benefit many of our troubled ecosystems, by keeping herbivore numbers down, keeping feral cats and foxes fearful, and triggering a rebound in vegetation and small animal populations.</p>
<h2>Predators vs prey</h2>
<p>Predators can affect their prey’s behaviour. When prey species know a predator is around and perceive risk to their survival, they change how they behave.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534719300199?via%3Dihub">landscape of fear</a> predators create can make it harder for prey species to survive. </p>
<p>That’s often good for ecosystems. The effect of dingoes in reducing, say, kangaroo and wallaby populations and changing their behaviour, can actually help bring back plants and smaller animals through a “<a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/">trophic cascade</a>”. For example, wolves chasing, eating and scaring deer can lead to an increase in the growth of plants, which can benefit other species.</p>
<p>Predators also affect <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01347.x">other predators</a>. If humans poison, shoot, trap and exclude top predators like dingoes, smaller predators can increase in number and get bolder, in a phenomenon called <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/23028">mesopredator release</a>. In California, when coyotes disappeared due to habitat destruction, populations of smaller predators such as cats grew and songbird numbers fell.</p>
<h2>How is it done?</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-rewild-swathes-of-australia-by-focusing-on-what-makes-it-unique-111749">Rewilding</a> can occur passively, by changing laws to stop the exclusion or killing of large carnivores and making areas more favourable for carnivores to live. When this happens, species often move back by themselves. Encouragingly, this is happening in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1257553">many parts of the world</a>, including a recent sighting of a wolf in Brandenburg, Germany.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1371116490020302851"}"></div></p>
<p>In other cases, rewilding may need a more active approach, such as physically moving animals to an area. The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q">ecological transformation</a> that followed is a famous example of this, although in recent times the details of this story have been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13915">questioned</a>.</p>
<p>When does rewilding work best? <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320723000095?via%3Dihub">Recent research</a> shows wild-born animals fare better than captive-born animals, though the results are far from conclusive. Wild-born animals may have an edge due to their skills in hunting and defending territories <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320707004417?via%3Dihub">critically important</a> for survival.</p>
<h2>Rewilding in Australia means bringing back dingoes</h2>
<p>Once carnivores are killed or fenced off from an area, the ecosystem changes. Will we restore nature by bringing them back? Potentially – but it’s not guaranteed.
Australia’s controversial canine, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/amoty/dingo-charismatic-controversial-canid/">the dingo</a>, is a perfect example. Aside from humans, dingoes are Australia’s only living land predator over 15 kilograms. </p>
<p>Dingoes have a vital role in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x">Australian ecosystems</a>, such as keeping populations of <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR99030">kangaroos and emus</a> under control. They can also take down feral goats. Their natural control of herbivores means plants can bounce back, as well as making room for smaller animals. Their effect on plant life may even affect the height and shape of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-09/dingo-fence-map-ecology-farming-predator-sheep-extinction/101711608">sand dunes</a>. </p>
<p>In some parts of Australia, kangaroo populations <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14428903/2021/22/S1">have exploded</a>. Land clearing for pasture favours kangaroos, as do the dams and water troughs for livestock, the killing off of dingoes and the ending of First Nations Peoples’ cultural practices and hunting.</p>
<p>At times, these population booms have led to sudden crashes, with widespread starvation in droughts. Harvesting kangaroos is one response, but this is often controversial and unpopular. Bringing <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.12186">dingoes back</a> would help reduce kangaroo numbers in a way more palatable to many people.</p>
<p>When present, dingoes also keep a lid on our worst introduced predators, feral cats and <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/am/AM21036">foxes</a>, either by eating them or forcing them to alter <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02207.x">their behaviour</a>. If cats and foxes have to be more careful, it may benefit their smaller prey.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A portrait of a dingo looking into the distance" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes are a controversial carnivore in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dingo-on-beach-great-sandy-national-791883502">Pawel Papis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We could rewild dingoes very easily by removing large barriers like the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-09/dingo-fence-map-ecology-farming-predator-sheep-extinction/101711608">dingo fence</a>. This, of course, would trigger pushback from livestock graziers worried about attacks on their stock.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It doesn’t have to be this way though. We’ve learned a lot about ways to <a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">reduce conflict</a> between farmers and predators. It’s now entirely possible for livestock producers and top predators to coexist. Western Australian farmers are already using guardian animals such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/maremmas-protecting-pastoral-sheep-outback-wa/101320626">Maremma dogs</a> to protect livestock.</p>
<h2>So should we do it?</h2>
<p>Australia has been slow to support and attempt large carnivore rewilding. But we can learn valuable lessons from the relocation of Tasmanian devils to an offshore haven, Maria Island. </p>
<p>Devils were introduced to safeguard the species against the severe population decline from devil facial tumour disease. These predators were not native to Maria Island, but they’ve flourished. One unexpected side effect was the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/21/tasmanian-devils-wipe-out-thousands-of-penguins-maria-island-australia">devastating impact</a> on the island’s little penguin population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close up of a Tasmanian devil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An insurance population of Tasmanian devils has been established on Maria Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/XMnQnYND9JU">David Clode/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rewilding comes with risks. But it also comes with major benefits, which may help our <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077">collapsing ecosystems</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/gut-wrenching-and-infuriating-why-australia-is-the-world-leader-in-mammal-extinctions-and-what-to-do-about-it-192173">threatened species</a>. </p>
<p>Time is short. Conservation must take calculated and informed risks to achieve better outcomes. <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aav5570">Rewilding</a> attempts are valuable, even when things don’t go entirely as planned. </p>
<p>What else could we do? Discussions over the carefully planned <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-move-tasmanian-devils-back-to-the-mainland-16388">reintroduction of Tasmanian devils</a> to mainland Australia continue. If the devils come back to the mainland for the first time in thousands of years, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715300379">they might</a> help to manage herbivore and feral cat populations.</p>
<p>Rewilding is not about recreating the <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-knowledge-and-the-persistence-of-the-wilderness-myth-165164">mythical idea</a> of wilderness. Humans have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0576-5">shaped ecosystems</a> for millennia. </p>
<p>If rewilding and ecological restoration is to succeed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/academia-can-help-humans-and-large-carnivores-coexist-115467">communities and their values</a>, including First Nations groups, must be involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan G. Ritchie is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p>Rewilding is risky but we can learn from past attempts to use it as an effective tool for conservationEuan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998672023-02-17T03:38:25Z2023-02-17T03:38:25ZDead kangaroos make a surprising feast for possums in the Australian Alps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510757/original/file-20230217-28-n3s0iu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C52%2C2002%2C1394&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brushtail possums were caught on camera eating the flesh of a dead kangaroo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vandersteen/University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vultures, hyenas, and Tasmanian devils are highly efficient scavengers, able to locate and consume carrion rapidly, including the meat and bones. </p>
<p>When we think of scavengers, these large carnivores are what comes to mind – not brushtail possums.</p>
<p>So it came as a surprise when these Australian marsupials turned out to be one of the most common scavengers we caught on camera in our <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/Fulltext/WR22100">new study published online this month in Wildlife Research</a>. </p>
<h2>Circle of life</h2>
<p>No vertebrate Australian animals survive exclusively by scavenging – for our wildlife, carcasses are a “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13390">sometimes food</a>”.</p>
<p>Scavengers play an important role as ecosystem cleaners, helping to remove carcasses from our landscapes by eating them.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we wanted to know how different seasons affect the use of carcasses by vertebrate scavengers in Kosciuszko National Park, south-east NSW, in the Australian Alps. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="panorama from a mountaintop of other snow-capped, wide mountain ranges below a cloudy sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510756/original/file-20230217-14-gm9qj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mount Howitt, Victoria, is a part of the Australian Alps and experiences a wide range of temperatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Loco Photography/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Winter in the Australian Alps covers much of the landscape in snow. But by the following summer, that same landscape can warm up considerably and even experience intense <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/Mountain-Research-and-Development/volume-23/issue-3/0276-4741(2003)023%5B0294:ABROTA%5D2.0.CO;2/A-Brief-Report-on-the-2003-Australian-Alps-Bushfires/10.1659/0276-4741(2003)023%5B0294:ABROTA%5D2.0.CO;2.full">bushfires</a>. </p>
<p>We found scavenging was highly seasonal in terms of who visits carcasses throughout the course of a year. Most surprisingly, brushtail possums and ravens drove these seasonal trends, as the most common scavengers recorded, with possums mostly scavenging in winter, and ravens in spring. </p>
<p>These findings emphasised the key role of smaller scavenger species, and uncovered novel insights into the feeding habits of the brushtail possum, which is generally considered to eat mostly plants and insects. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DS4EDaoZy18?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Catching possums in the act</h2>
<p>We expected to see different scavengers appearing with each season, so our monitoring ran across the course of a full year from March 2020 till March 2021. </p>
<p>Each consecutive season (starting in autumn, then winter, spring, and summer) we placed 15 fresh eastern grey kangaroo carcasses – sourced from local culls – throughout the alpine environment (60 carcasses total). </p>
<p>Each of these carcasses were monitored by a remote camera for 60 days to record every species that visited, whether that be to investigate or feed on the carcass. </p>
<p>Across 745,599 remote camera images, the scavenger species we recorded were spotted-tail quolls, feral cats, dingoes, pied currawongs, wedge-tailed eagles, brushtail possums, ravens, red foxes, and feral pigs. </p>
<p>Of the scavenging we recorded, 88% was done by brushtail possums and ravens. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A 3 by 3 grid of photos of animals taken by remote capture. In each photo, the animal is visiting/scavenging on kangaroo carcass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510765/original/file-20230217-18-ugmd4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our remote camera captured a range of scavengers in the Australian Alps: a) spotted-tail quoll, b) feral cat, c) dingo, d) pied currawong, e) wedge-tailed eagle, f) brushtail possum, g) raven species, h) red fox and i) feral pig.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vandersteen/University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Surviving the seasons</h2>
<p>We expected the time it would take the scavengers to find – and subsequently scavenge – a carcass would be linked to the smelliness of the carcass. </p>
<p>During summer, we thought, that heat would make the carcasses’ odours more pungent, and therefore easier to find. </p>
<p>We were wrong about that, not in terms of the smell, but how quickly vertebrate scavengers would find the carcasses. </p>
<p>It actually took vertebrate scavengers longer to find the carcasses in the summer, whether for investigation or scavenging. In the winter, carcass visits peaked.</p>
<p>But, we have a potential explanation for this. </p>
<p>In the summer, a carcass is colonised by many scavenging insects within minutes of its death. These “mini scavengers” may have sped up carcass decomposition so much, that vertebrate scavengers had little time to find the fresh carcasses. </p>
<p>Scavenging rates might also have been lowest in the summer because other food sources were abundant.</p>
<p>Brushtail possums, for instance, eat mostly leaves, flowers, fruit and insects, most of which are only seasonally available during summer. </p>
<p>In the winter, when these food sources are scarce, brushtail possums accounted for 81% of all recorded scavenging. They were eating carrion three times more often than during summer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brushtail possum in the snow at night, rearing up next to a kangaroo carcass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510775/original/file-20230217-14-kwzkku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A brushtail possum braving the cold to ‘protect’ its kangaroo carcass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vandersteen/University of Sydney</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Feeding the family</h2>
<p>We also considered that the scavengers’ breeding seasons might have an impact on their scavenging rates and behaviours. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/WR/WR15039">Ravens breed</a> from late winter into early spring, and initially prioritise nest construction.</p>
<p>This was even captured by our remote cameras, where ravens were observed collecting fur from the kangaroo carcasses, presumably for nest construction. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Ravens stand around a kangaroo carcass in the snow, with tufts of kangaroo fur in their beaks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510769/original/file-20230217-18-2z5hy5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This breeding pair of ravens decided that kangaroo fur would make comfy nesting material.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vandersteen/University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following nest construction, chick rearing often requires breeding pairs to divide time between foraging, feeding chicks, and protecting the nest. </p>
<p>Inherently, during this time, ravens require more energy and must supplement their diets with lots of high-energy food, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241692417_The_scavenging_behaviour_of_the_Australian_Raven_Corvus_coronoides_Patterns_and_influencing_factors">such as carrion</a>.</p>
<p>Of all the raven scavenging we recorded, 67% was done during spring. This suggests ravens rely heavily on carrion to supplement their own diet – and that of their chicks – during their breeding season. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VdqlTQUkt0E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Where were the usual suspects?</h2>
<p>It was also clear that the larger species (dingoes, wedge-tail eagles, feral pigs) were scarcely recorded at the carcass sites. Low rates of scavenging by these larger animals could be another reason why the smaller scavengers were so common.</p>
<p>This is because larger scavengers can scare away or predate on smaller scavengers, potentially moving them away from carcasses. Larger scavengers also have bigger appetites, so in their absence, there was potentially more carrion for smaller species to find.</p>
<p>Although we do not have a good estimate of the true density of larger scavengers in the surrounding environment, species like the dingo are subject to control in the broader region, potentially limiting their numbers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brindle coat dingo stands in an Australian alpine bushland in front of a kangaroo carcass, looking at the camera, licking its lips." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510760/original/file-20230217-964-xwkv53.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We expected to see dingos scavenging. This one seems to have noticed the camera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vandersteen/University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond the mountains</h2>
<p>Given the extent of culling operations in Australia targeting overabundant native species (like kangaroos) or pests such as deer and horses, not to mention all the road-kill, it is important to understand what is happening to carcasses in the landscape. </p>
<p>Our study has set a baseline for scavenging dynamics in an alpine ecosystem, and our methods could be used to learn more about the ecology of scavenging in many different environments. </p>
<p>In this case, it was (surprisingly) brushtail possums who appear to be taking advantage of carcasses as a source of food in the Australian Alps.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by the Australian Alps National Parks Cooperative Management Program.
James Vandersteen undertook this work as an MPhil student at The University of Sydney. He is, however, currently affiliated with The University of New South Wales as a PhD student.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by the Australian Alps National Parks Co-operative Management Program. Funding/support for related work in the study region has been received from the Australian Pacific Science Foundation, Hermon Slade Foundation, Australian Government, NSW Government (South East Local Land Services, NSW National Parks/NSW Environment Trust), and Australian Geographic. Thomas Newsome is a Council member of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, a member of the Australian Mammal Society and Ecological Society of Australia, and President of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society. </span></em></p>When they set up remote cameras throughout the bush, scientists were not expecting to capture these small marsupials scavenging for flesh.James Vandersteen, PhD Student, UNSW SydneyThomas Newsome, Senior lecturer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1975222023-01-19T19:13:25Z2023-01-19T19:13:25ZCould feral animals in Australia become distinct species? It’s possible – and we’re seeing some early signs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504379/original/file-20230113-18-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3914%2C2646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might think evolution is glacially slow. At a species level, that’s true. But evolution happens every time organisms produce offspring. The everyday mixing of genes – combined with mutations – throws up new generations upon which “selection pressure” will act. </p>
<p>This pressure is popularly known as survival of the fittest, where fittest means “best adapted” individuals. Tiger snakes <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-09/mount-chappell-island-hummocky-tiger-snakes-larger-bigger-heads/101817298">with a mutation</a> for a larger head can eat larger prey. Evolution is the zoomed-out version, where species change – or evolve into new ones, better adapted to the environment they find themselves in. </p>
<p>Evolution acts over millennia. But given the right conditions, it can also work surprisingly rapidly. Australia’s isolation produced our distinctive animals. But until recently in a geological sense, it had no camels, cats, toads and dogs. Now it does. Millions of feral animals, birds and amphibians now call Australia home. And their new home is beginning to change them in turn. </p>
<h2>Can evolution run fast?</h2>
<p>We’ve long thought evolution grinds slowly. But given the right conditions, pressure can bring change much faster. A <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0853">recent study</a> found evolution acting up to four times faster than previous estimates. On average, species in the study saw an 18.5% increase per generation in their ability to survive and reproduce. This remarkably rapid change suggests many species (not all) may be well able to adapt to rapid environmental changes.</p>
<p>Australia’s feral animal species all arrived through human efforts. Dogs came first through by contact between First Nations peoples and traders from what is now Indonesia. Cats <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-22/cats-came-to-australia-with-european-settlers/7049308">came next</a>, accompanying European colonists in the 1700s (and maybe earlier). Camels in the 1840s. Cane toads came in the 1930s. That’s to say nothing of deer, horses, goats, pigs, water buffalo, mynahs, foxes and rabbits. </p>
<p>Once here, dogs, camels and cats rapidly gave up domestication, becoming dingoes, feral camels and feral cats. With each generation, these animals have become better adapted to their new environments. They are now evolving in Australia.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/so-you-want-to-cat-proof-a-bettong-how-living-with-predators-could-help-native-species-survive-170450">So you want to cat-proof a bettong: how living with predators could help native species survive</a>
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<h2>Dog or dingo?</h2>
<p>The status of the dingo has been <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR02045">heavily contested</a> and we even argue about what to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC18018">call it</a>. Given it can interbreed with domestic dogs, it’s not a <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/347/450006/Taxonomy-of-the-Dingo-It-s-an-ancient-dog">separate species</a>. Recent research suggests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/23/scientists-find-dingoes-genetically-different-from-domestic-dogs-after-decoding-genome">it’s an intermediary</a> between wolves and domestic dogs. Dingoes have been implicated in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2012.646112">thylacine’s extinction</a> on the mainland.</p>
<p>Given the dingo’s closest relative is the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2007242117">New Guinea singing dog</a>, which howls like a wolf with overtones of whalesong, the dingo may have already evolved away from its ancestors. There’s certainly evidence of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14515-6">unique selection pressures</a> but nowhere near enough to be considered a separate species. Similarly, dingoes tend to have broader heads than domestic dogs and more flexible joints. They don’t woof but howl. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="fraser island dingo" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504375/original/file-20230113-16-xaug0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The last pure dingo population lives on Fraser Island. Dingoes elsewhere have some degree of interbreeding with domestic dogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An Australian camel?</h2>
<p>It’s a similar story for camels. Australia’s one-humped dromedaries were imported from Afghanistan and Pakistan because of their ability to live in arid environments. It’s no surprise they have thrived. Hundreds of thousands <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180410-the-strange-story-of-australias-wild-camel">now roam</a> the Red Centre. We may now have the largest wild population of dromedaries <a href="https://pestsmart.org.au/toolkits/feral-camels/">in the world</a>. Given their numbers, in time, we may have a uniquely Australian camel. </p>
<p>Though we have a huge population of camels, they have low genetic diversity as they came from a small original population. Low diversity usually means a species is less able to adapt to changes in the environment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wild-animals-are-evolving-faster-than-anybody-thought-183633">Wild animals are evolving faster than anybody thought</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Cats are getting larger</h2>
<p>Domestication sits lightly on cats, with the difference between a pet cat and a feral just a couple of missed meals. </p>
<p>Cats are one of the most invasive species globally. In Australia, they have done the worst damage, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-25/feral-cat-sand-goanna-photo-outback-queensland/12275890">killing everything</a> from native mice to wallabies with abandon and pushing many to the brink of extinction. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1262376991728242691"}"></div></p>
<p>Ferals are getting bigger, with reports of 7 kilogram cats now common, well up from their domestic range of 4–5kg. Tales of panther-like felines may well be huge feral cats. Some <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2013/06/huge-feral-cats-wreaking-havoc-in-arnhem-land/">have been estimated</a> at 12–15kg. Take the estimated 1.5 metre feral <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/29/tall-tails-why-does-the-myth-of-exotic-big-cats-prowling-the-australian-bush-persist">killed in 2005</a> – double the nose-to-tail length of a domestic cat. </p>
<p>What’s going on? One reason is feral cats aren’t desexed, meaning toms can <a href="https://aridrecovery.org.au/feral-cats/">grow as large</a> as a small dingo. But it also seems selection pressures are favouring larger cats. We don’t know if it’s due to genetic changes or the rich diet of endangered animals. Normally, gigantism – where species grow to larger than usual sizes – is <a href="https://scitechdaily.com/island-gigantism-and-dwarfism-evolutionary-island-rule-confirmed/">associated with islands</a>. Think of the giant Komodo dragon, or of the extinct dodo – in reality, a giant pigeon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="feral cat kill wallaby" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504378/original/file-20230113-26-j2pfl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cats can even kill wallabies, as this image shows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Department of Environment and Natural Resources</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cane toads: phase shifters with longer legs</h2>
<p>In 1935, the infamous cane toad was brought in to eat the cane beetles plaguing sugar plantations. As we know, cane toads soon figured out there was a lot more to eat. Protected by poisonous glands on their back, they have spread across the tropical north to the Kimberley and down the east coast approaching Sydney. </p>
<p>Toads at the front of the invasion have developed longer legs, making faster travel possible. Remarkably, in some shady gorges in the Kimberley, some <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-22/cane-toads-change-from-nocturnal-to-diurnal-in-kimberley/10732102#:%7E:text=%22Cane%20toads%20across%20most%20of,day%2C%22%20Dr%20Letnic%20said.">have switched</a> from being nocturnal to diurnal. </p>
<h2>Adaptation is under way – but will we actually see new species?</h2>
<p>Consider too Darwin’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/darwins-finches-highlight-the-unity-of-all-life-38039">famous Galápagos finches</a>. On these isolated islands, finches calved off into separate species. Seed-eaters evolved thicker beaks, while the vampire finch evolved to drink blood from larger birds. </p>
<p>So could it happen here? Yes – if conditions are right. Let’s speculate that natural selection keeps pushing feral cats to get larger and larger. </p>
<p>Eventually, these giant cats would see any domestic cats fleeing from farms or homes not as mates – but as prey. Once the gene flow from smaller cats was cut off, the gene pool would be limited – and we would be on track for a new species. Perhaps one day, we will have a uniquely Australian cat alongside our uniquely Australian dog. </p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-give-feral-cats-their-citizenship-45165">Let's give feral cats their citizenship</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Bateman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Feral cats double the size of domestic tabbies. Cane toads with longer legs. And dingoes with flexible joints. ‘Selection pressure’ is at work on introduced animals.Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1905392022-09-14T03:02:46Z2022-09-14T03:02:46ZReminder: kangaroos are ‘vegetarian gladiators’ with kicks that can kill. An expert explains why they attack<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484465/original/file-20220914-4740-683yx2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C34%2C4530%2C2543&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harrison Broadbent/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kangaroos can be dangerous. This week a 77-year-old man tragically died in Western Australia after an attack by a kangaroo, which was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-13/suspected-kangaroo-attack-leaves-man-dead-near-albany-in-wa/101432566">reported to be</a> his pet. He is believed to be the first person killed in a kangaroo attack since 1936.</p>
<p>Kangaroos are wild animals. It’s important to remember that while they can make interesting pets, they have <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/12/16/whats-up-skip-kangaroos-really-can-talk-to-us.html">never been domesticated</a>, so their behaviour is driven mostly by instinct. </p>
<p>All kangaroos are large animals with powerful arms and massive feet. The largest is the iconic red kangaroo, which can easily tower over a tall human. Kangaroos use their arms, claws and feet as weapons in male-male combat, and for self-defence against predators such as dingoes and wedge-tailed eagles.</p>
<p>Indeed, a pet kangaroo may perceive its human owner as a rival kangaroo or a potential predator, or perhaps both. As a result, kangaroos sometimes attack people, causing nasty and even fatal injuries. </p>
<p>There are three species of kangaroo and all are known to attack humans: the red kangaroo, the eastern grey kangaroo and the western grey kangaroo. I’ve studied kangaroo behaviour since the 1970s, with a focus on human-kangaroo interactions. Here’s a reminder of why you should do your best to keep a respectful distance of them. </p>
<h2>Vegetarian gladiators</h2>
<p>Kangaroo attacks are rare, but not unheard of. Indeed, <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Native-animals/living-with-kangaroos-100968.pdf">fewer than five people</a> seek medical attention each year in New South Wales from kangaroo-related injuries.</p>
<p>While a kangaroo’s first response is usually to flee, <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Native-animals/living-with-kangaroos-100968.pdf">it will attack</a> if feels cornered or if it sees a human as a sparring partner. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. </p>
<p>They can cause serious injury. Their sharp claws can make deep cuts, and their powerful kicks can cause severe bruising and internal injuries. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484469/original/file-20220914-4889-lg3rio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kangaroos are essentially peace-loving herbivores, but will attack if cornered or provoked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>But don’t get me wrong, kangaroos are essentially peace-loving herbivores. Their days are spent resting in patches of sunshine in winter or shade in summer, then leaving to feed in evening twilight and much of the night, through to early morning. </p>
<p>They are gregarious creatures, forming loose mobs of both sexes and all ages. Only two things disturb their peaceful foraging: fighting among males and the threat of becoming prey. </p>
<p>Kangaroos can live for up to around 20 years and they grow throughout their lives. Males grow faster than females, which means males can become very large indeed. An old man kangaroo may <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/red-kangaroo">weigh 90 kilograms</a> or more and easily stand more than two metres tall.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-that-selfie-really-worth-it-why-face-time-with-wild-animals-is-a-bad-idea-96272">Is that selfie really worth it? Why face time with wild animals is a bad idea</a>
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<p>As males grow, their body proportions also change, giving them huge shoulders, long arms and sharp claws. Their feet grow less in relative terms, but are still formidable, with a long, sharp nail at the tip. </p>
<p>Male kangaroos use these features as weapons in male-male combat, as they kick, claw and wrestle each other in fights for dominance. Most fighting takes the form of ritualised, almost gentlemanly bouts as they hone their skills and learn their place in the hierarchy. </p>
<p>However, serious fights can still occur and males usually carry scars, torn ears and other injuries. Occasionally, these fights are fatal.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WCcLMNcWZOc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Kangaroo boxing fight | BBC Earth.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Standing up to dogs</h2>
<p>Other than humans, <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/kangaroo-attacked-and-killed-by-dog-in-south-morang/news-story/6d8f66242f23ec70d9743179b1848c29">dogs</a> – including large pets and dingoes – are the main predators of kangaroos. Dogs usually operate in packs to attack and kill kangaroos by running them down. </p>
<p>Kangaroos avoid attacks by maintaining vigilance, giving warning foot-thumps and fleeing to safety. Large male kangaroos are less likely to flee and may use their size and weapons to defend themselves against any dog that comes too close. </p>
<p>Kangaroos will also seek refuge in streams and dams, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-04-10/animal-myths-dogs-kangaroos-cockatoos/100038384">standing in the water</a> while the dogs pace the shore. </p>
<p>A large male kangaroo has the height and upper-body strength to kill any dog that enters the water, as the first European colonists learned when their hunting dogs were drowned.</p>
<p>Domestic dogs and kangaroos do not mix. Many attacks on people occur when a kangaroo defends itself against a dog, then the owner <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/man-punches-kangaroo-saves-dog-australia">tries to intervene</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert</a>
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<h2>When kangaroos and humans interact</h2>
<p>When female kangaroos are found dead or injured on the side of the road, or sometimes tangled in a fence, they often have a joey still alive in the pouch. Most people call wildlife rescue organisations to care for the joey, while some may take the joey home to raise as a pet.</p>
<p>In Australia, a permit is usually required to keep a kangaroo as a pet, but regulations differ across the states and territories. </p>
<p>Hand-rearing a joey takes time and devotion, but can be rewarding as the youngster becomes imprinted on its human foster mother and faithfully follows them around. </p>
<p>As the youngster grows, it becomes more independent. By the time it reaches sexual maturity around 4 years of age, a hand-reared male is much bigger and is now quite a handful. Its foster mother could then become a sparring partner in practice fights, which are increasingly rough and dangerous as the young male continues to grow. </p>
<p>Another way we come into close contact with kangaroos is when we deliberately feed them. Kangaroos rapidly habituate to humans, losing their natural fear of us as they seek an instant food reward. </p>
<p>This reached has a dangerous extreme on the grounds of the Morisset Hospital on the New South Wales Central Coast, where domestic and international tourists <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/05/02/please-stop-feeding-the-kangaroos-or-risk-getting-mauled-australian-officials-warn-tourists/">deliberately feed</a> the wild, resident kangaroos to get close-up photos. This unregulated activity has led to a <a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/picnic-areas/morisset-picnic-area#:%7E:text=For%20your%20own%20safety%2C%20please,toilets%20at%20the%20picnic%20area.">number of attacks</a> on people.</p>
<h2>Mixed messages</h2>
<p>We share our unusual upright posture with kangaroos. This might make kangaroos endearing to us. However, the message received by the kangaroo is quite different. A kangaroo probably sees our vertical stance as a threat, so may lash out in self defence if we approach. </p>
<p>An adult male kangaroo may view our stance as a serious challenge, and if large and confident, may escalate and attack. </p>
<p>This reaction gave us the classic boxing kangaroo, <a href="https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/fighting-jack-melbournes-first-boxing-kangaroo/">once a feature</a> of sideshows around Australia in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The kangaroo wore gloves to protect the human boxer from sharp claws, and the human kept well out of range of a stranglehold or raking kick. </p>
<p>Today we have a more enlightened view of animal behaviour, and recognise that kangaroos are fundamentally wild animals and are potentially dangerous. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Native-animals/living-with-kangaroos-100968.pdf">If a kangaroo attacks</a>, keep an eye on it and get away as quickly as possible while keeping low in a crouch, because the kangaroo is less likely to give chase. If the attack persists and you can’t escape, drop down low, curl into a ball, protect your head with your arms and call for help.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-million-animals-are-hit-on-our-roads-each-year-heres-how-you-can-help-them-and-steer-clear-of-them-these-holidays-149733">10 million animals are hit on our roads each year. Here’s how you can help them (and steer clear of them) these holidays</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Coulson works for Macropus Consulting. </span></em></p>Kangaroos are essentially peace-loving herbivores, but they’re known to attack if it feels cornered – or even if it sees a human as a sparring partner.Graeme Coulson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816052022-04-23T02:33:52Z2022-04-23T02:33:52ZFrom wolf to chihuahua: new research reveals where the dingo sits on the evolutionary timeline of dogs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458986/original/file-20220421-55253-8wgp0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C97%2C3244%2C2345&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barry Eggleton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people know modern dogs evolved from the grey wolf. But did you know most of the more than 340 modern dog breeds we have today only emerged within the past 200 years? </p>
<p>Dogs were <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894154/">first domesticated</a> during the Neolithic period between 29,000 and 14,000 years ago, and have been closely linked to humans ever since. Dingoes – the only native Australian dog – are thought to represent a unique event within canine evolution, having arrived in Australia 5,000–8,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Yet dingoes’ exact place in the evolutionary family tree of dogs has never been known. To find out where they branched away from grey wolves on their evolutionary journey, we used cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies to discover that dingoes are fundamentally different from domestic dogs. </p>
<p>In research <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm5944">published today</a> in Science Advances, in collaboration with 25 researchers from four countries, we show dingoes are an early offshoot of modern dogs situated between the grey wolf and the domesticated dogs of today. This work has potential implications for the health of all modern breed dogs.</p>
<h2>Dog and human history</h2>
<p>By studying dogs we can gain insight into how we as humans have influenced their physical and behavioural traits, as well as observe changes in their genome. </p>
<p>For example, dogs only recently developed the ability to raise their eyebrows – a trait likely developed to communicate more effectively <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1820653116">with humans</a>. So it seems puppy dog eyes really were “created” just for us. </p>
<p>But some examples aren’t so obvious, and can only be found by looking deeper into dogs’ genomes. </p>
<p>For example, previous <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1820653116">scientific studies</a> have shown dogs require a particular gene (amylase 2B) to digest starch. Many dog breeds carry several duplicates of this gene (sometimes more than ten copies). However, the wolf and dingo only retain a single copy of this gene. </p>
<p>This duplication in modern dogs likely resulted from a change in diet for the earliest domesticated dogs, as they were increasingly fed starchy foods such as rice (cultivated through early widespread agriculture). </p>
<p>Interestingly, the same gene duplication has occurred independently in other recently domesticated <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/44628">livestock animals</a>, which indicates how humans can affect the genomes of domesticated animals.</p>
<h2>An early offshoot of modern dogs</h2>
<p>Dingoes are unique as they have been geographically isolated from wolves and domestic dogs for thousands of years. In our study, we used genetics to help us understand exactly where the dingo fits in the evolution of dogs, and what role it has in the Australian ecosystem.</p>
<p>Initially, in 2017, we only had access to a single dog genome as a point of comparison (a boxer breed). It contained many gaps, due to the limitations of the technology at the time. </p>
<p>However, that same year, the dingo won the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dingo-wins-worlds-most-interesting-genome-competition-180962922/">“World’s Most Interesting Genome” competition</a> held by US biotech company Pacific Biosciences. This got us thinking about generating a high-quality dingo genome. </p>
<p>But to understand the dingo’s place in dog history, we needed several high-quality dog genomes as well. So we generated a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/9/4/giaa027/5813919?login=true">German shepherd genome</a> as a representative breed, followed by the <a href="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-021-07493-6">basenji</a> (the earliest dog breed used for hunting in the Congo). </p>
<p>Finally, we were able to sequence the genome of a pure desert dingo puppy, Sandy, found abandoned in the outback (pictured at the top of this article). </p>
<p>The ability to generate high-quality genomes only became possible in the last few years, due to the development of long-read sequencing technology. This technology has also been crucial to the recently announced completion of the entire human genome.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-human-genome-project-pieced-together-only-92-of-the-dna-now-scientists-have-finally-filled-in-the-remaining-8-176138">The Human Genome Project pieced together only 92% of the DNA – now scientists have finally filled in the remaining 8%</a>
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<p>Using our new dog genomes – along with existing genomes of the Greenland wolf and other representative species including the great Dane, boxer and Labrador – we measured the number of genetic differences between these breeds and the dingo to definitively show where the dingo fits in the evolutionary timeline. </p>
<p>We found dingoes are truly an early offshoot of all modern dog breeds, between the wolf and today’s domesticated dogs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two dingoes face towards camera, pictures from the shoulders up" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459026/original/file-20220421-20-7uzpyd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pure desert dingoes Sandy and Eggie at three years old. DNA from Sandy was used to generate the new dingo reference genome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barry Eggleton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future work</h2>
<p>Collectively, our analysis shows how distinct demographic and environmental conditions have shaped the dingo genome. We can’t say for certain whether the dingo has ever been domesticated, but we do know it’s unlikely it was domesticated after its arrival in Australia. </p>
<p>Future work on more dingo genomes will address whether the dingo has ever been domesticated at all, and also measure the level and impact of pure dingo crossbreeding with domestic dogs. While many hybrid dingoes are similar in appearance, there has been substantial crossbreeding, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria.</p>
<p>This knowledge is important. A better understanding of the effect of dingoes cross breeding with dogs may provide insight into dingoes’ role in the ecosystem, and therefore help with future conservation efforts. </p>
<p>Also, knowledge about dingoes’ evolutionary history ultimately helps us understand how and when domestic dogs evolved alongside humans, and can help us identify and target new ways to improve their health and vitality.</p>
<h2>Veterinary applications</h2>
<p>Through artificial selection, humans have been selectively crossbreeding dogs for desirable traits and characteristics for hundreds of years.</p>
<p>While this has created modern purebred lineages, it has also resulted in many breed-specific diseases. For example, Labradors and German shepherds are prone to hip dysplasia (improper joint fitting that leads to serious mobility issues over time), golden retrievers are prone to certain cancers, and jack terriers are susceptible to blindness.</p>
<p>Generating high-quality genomes for dingoes and wolves could help us determine the cause of these diseases by serving as a disease-free baseline or reference. These discoveries could lead to new targeted treatment options for breed dogs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-help-your-dog-live-a-longer-healthier-life-166306">Five ways to help your dog live a longer, healthier life</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt A. Field receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. William O. Ballard receives funding from Australian Research Foundation and support from Pacific Biosciences.</span></em></p>The first high-quality Australian dingo genome gives a multi-thousand-year-old snapshot into the evolutionary history of dogs.Matt A. Field, Associate Professor - Bioinformatics, James Cook UniversityJ. William O. Ballard, Professor and Head of Department, Environment and Genetics, SABE, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583122021-12-09T00:09:29Z2021-12-09T00:09:29ZEver wondered who would win in a fight between a dingo and a wolf? An expert explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436509/original/file-20211208-133881-1d8r3jt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C0%2C3886%2C1988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/who-would-win-in-a-fight-103258">Who would win?</a>” series, where wildlife experts dream up hypothetical battles between predators (all in the name of science).</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Imagine two of the world’s most iconic canids – a dingo and a wolf – head to head in a fight. Who would win?</p>
<p>Before we examine the combatants in more detail, we need to answer an important question first, <em>which</em> wolf and <em>which</em> dingo? Taxonomy – the way we describe, name and classify Earth’s biodiversity – <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aav3437">remains contentious</a> for both animals.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">Dingoes are recognised as a species</a> in their own right by some, but not <a href="https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4317.2.1">others</a>. And, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2021.004">dingoes are quite different</a> in their size and appearance, depending on whether they live in Australia’s alpine and forested areas, deserts, or tropical regions. </p>
<p>As for wolves, there are North American (“Grey”), Mexican, Eurasian, Himalayan, Asiatic, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.16127">Indian and Tibetan</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.16048">Red</a>, African <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.041">golden</a>, Ethiopian and even “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/37/9/2616/5834723">ghost wolves</a>” – yes, <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.10.463851v3">ghost wolves</a>! Ghost wolves are species we can recognise from the past using genetic information, but they no longer survive and no fossils are known to exist. </p>
<p>And then there are “wolves” that aren’t wolves at all: the fox-like <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/maned-wolf">maned wolf</a> in South America, and the gargantuan, now-extinct <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03082-x?proof=t">dire wolf</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435232/original/file-20211202-17-a8k7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The maned wolf is a canine from South America, but is neither a wolf nor a fox.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the purposes of this battle, let’s assume it’s between a grey wolf and an alpine dingo.</p>
<h2>Why do dogs, dingoes and wolves fight?</h2>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1891/dingo.gif?1639005086" width="33%" align="left"></p>
<p>For wild canids, fights occur for many reasons, within and between species when they overlap. Wolves and dingoes fight for mates, to attain dominance within packs, and to establish and maintain their territories. </p>
<p>So, let’s get to know each opponent a little better. </p>
<p>Dingoes and wolves are both social and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347210001478">intelligent species</a>, capable of <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7138/">complex behaviours and problem solving</a>. </p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1892/wolf.gif?1639005618" width="33%" align="right"></p>
<p>Grey wolves are what we call hyper-carnivores, feeding <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mam.12067">predominantly on other animals</a>, in many cases large prey such as deer, elk, moose and bison. </p>
<p>Dingoes are omnivores with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/dingo-dinners-whats-on-the-menu-for-australias-top-predator-103846">broad, varied diet</a>. They eat everything from fruits, to invertebrates, to small and large vertebrates – think lizards, birds, wombats, wallabies, possums, kangaroos, and feral animals like goats and deer. Dingoes will also <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article/41/3/433/464059/Dingoes-dining-with-death">scavenge food and carcasses</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingo-dinners-whats-on-the-menu-for-australias-top-predator-103846">Dingo dinners: what's on the menu for Australia's top predator?</a>
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<p>Prior to European invasion, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x">dingoes likely occupied</a> all of mainland Australia. </p>
<p>Aside from humans, it’s thought the grey wolf was once <a href="https://www.canids.org/species/view/PREKLD895731">the world’s most widespread mammal</a>, where it, and its subspecies, occurred across much of Europe, Asia, and North and Central America. But, like with dingoes, humans have caused substantial population and range decline of wolves. </p>
<h2>The battle: terrain is crucial</h2>
<p>The terrain of the arena for our combatants would be crucial. Dingoes and wolves are capable of moving at great speeds, sustained for long periods of time, especially in open country. Both can reach top speeds in the range of 50-60 kilometres per hour!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435233/original/file-20211202-27-1p0mlxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aside from humans, the grey wolf may once have been the world’s most widespread mammal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Milo Weiler/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, dingoes arguably have the advantage in tight spots, in terms of their much smaller size, greater agility and flexibility, and climbing abilities. Dingoes typically weigh between <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x">15 and 20 kilograms</a>, while grey wolves are usually in <a href="https://www.livescience.com/27909-wolves.html">the range of 30-65kg</a>, and up to around 80kg for some males. </p>
<p>Dingoes have been recorded vertically jumping 2 metres and <a href="https://dingofoundation.org/dingoes-are-not-domestic-dogs/">climbing fences</a>, making them quite cat-like in many respects. So, if the battle occurs among many obstacles and on steep terrain, this will give dingoes an edge. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435230/original/file-20211202-23-d897tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes are perfectly adapted to Australia’s conditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>But if the fight is in the open, the much heavier, taller, and longer wolves will be too much for dingoes. They also pack a heavier <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2004.2986">bite quotient</a> (bite force relative to body mass) of 136 as compared to the dingo’s 108. </p>
<p>Having said that, wolves are much taller than dingoes, around 65-80 centimetres and 45-60cm at their shoulders, respectively. So it’s possible a wily dingo could dash under the legs of a tall wolf and launch an attack on the vulnerable underbelly. </p>
<h2>What about pack vs pack?</h2>
<p>The final factor to consider is whether the fight is simply one dingo vs one wolf. Both can occur as individuals or in packs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435228/original/file-20211202-21-1sxtsus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grey wolves can be in packs with 20 or more individuals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eva Blue/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dingoes are typically found alone, in pairs or in small packs of a few individuals, but occasionally can be found in much larger, less socially cohesive groups of ten or more when <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00056.x">food resources are plentiful</a>. </p>
<p>Wolves, on the other hand, are often found in groups of between five and ten, but much larger packs of 20 or more can also occur. </p>
<p>I spoke to Lyn Watson, who runs the <a href="https://dingofoundation.org/">Dingo Discovery and Research Centre</a>. She says dingoes are “flight, rather than fight, canids”. This is wise behaviour, as dingoes are small in number and size and can’t rely on a large pack, like wolves sometimes can, to substitute them should they become injured in a fight. </p>
<p>She goes on to say that from her 30 years of observations, female dingoes are particularly deadly.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While dingoes are small, bonded pairs will fight in a coordinated way. Males fight in traditional neck and throat grabs, or “elbow”, but their bonded other has a completely different mode - and it’s deadly. </p>
<p>The female will stay at the periphery then dart into the soft parts of the combatant that is threatening her mate. She aims to maim - and does so, targeting the most “sensitive” of areas, enough said!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So if it’s pack vs pack, wolves will be far too strong. But if a single wolf was unlucky enough to come across a pack of dingoes, the tide could turn strongly in favour of dingoes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434086/original/file-20211126-25-1pu702n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Female dingoes aim to maim when they fight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angus Emmott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning to live together</h2>
<p>Even though wolves and dingoes fight in the wild, despite common perceptions, they generally pose a very small risk to people, especially if we adhere to advice such as not feeding them. </p>
<p>Domestic and feral dogs pose a far greater risk to us. It’s estimated that around the world, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/animal-bites">dogs bite and injure tens of millions of people</a> annually. In the US alone, it’s thought around 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year. </p>
<p>Of course, in reality wolves and dingoes will never fight each other in the wild. The greatest threat they both face is the ongoing destruction of their habitats and widespread <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.304">direct persecution from humans</a> (trapping, poisoning, shooting, and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42977-021-00106-z">exclusion from areas</a>), often aimed at protecting livestock. </p>
<p>Like other apex predators, dingoes and wolves have critical roles in our ecosystems and, in many cases, have deep cultural significance for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303709X434149">Indigenous people</a>. We must find more ethical and sustainable ways to <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/491/447838/Co-existing-with-dingoes-Challenges-and-solutions">share our world</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-live-with-large-predators-lessons-from-spanish-wolf-country-167326">How to live with large predators – lessons from Spanish wolf country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Government Bushfire Recovery program, Australian Geographic, Parks Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, WWF, and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Euan Ritchie is a Director (Media Working Group) of the Ecological Society of Australia, and a member of the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p>The answer isn’t as clear cut as you might think and depends on a number of factors, including the terrain and whether it’s pack vs pack.Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1727562021-12-05T19:11:20Z2021-12-05T19:11:20ZWhy dingoes should be considered native to mainland Australia – even though humans introduced them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435481/original/file-20211203-27-dx7620.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C31%2C5168%2C3197&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dingoes are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cz/article-abstract/57/5/668/5004458">often demonised</a> as a danger to livestock, while many consider them a natural and essential part of the environment. But is our most controversial wild species actually native to Australia? </p>
<p>Dingoes were brought to Australia by humans from Southeast Asia some 4,000 years ago. Technically, this means they are an introduced species, and an “alien” species by <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/68/7/496/5050532">classic ecological definitions </a>. By contrast, most legal definitions consider dingoes native, because they were here before Europeans arrived. </p>
<p>Though it sounds academic, the controversy has real consequences for this ancient dog lineage. In 2018, the Western Australian government declared dingoes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-wa-government-is-wrong-to-play-identity-politics-with-dingoes-102344">were not native fauna</a> due to crossbreeding with domestic dogs. This potentially makes it easier to control their numbers.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/358/472935/An-eco-evolutionary-rationale-to-distinguish-alien">new research paper</a>, I find dingoes do indeed fit the bill as an Australian native species, using three new criteria I propose. These criteria can help us answer questions over whether alien species can ever be considered native, and if so, over what time frame.</p>
<h2>Why does alien or native status matter?</h2>
<p>Humans have been moving animal species around for millennia. Thousands of years ago, neolithic settlers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00129.x">moved rabbits</a> to Mediterranean islands, traders unwittingly took black rats from India to Europe and Indigenous Southeast Asian people took pigs to Papua New Guinea. </p>
<p>The rate of species introductions has ramped up with the movement and spread of people, with many recent arrivals posing a major threat to biodiversity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pigs were introduced to Papua New Guinea by Indigenous people thousands of years ago. Does that make them native?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers often distinguish between alien and native using the year the species was introduced. There are obvious problems with this, given the dates used can be arbitrary and the fact perceptions of nativeness can be based on how much <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309132507079499">humans like the species</a>, rather than its ecological impact. For example, there has been strong opposition to killing “friendly” hedgehogs in areas of Scotland where they are introduced, but less cute animals like American mink get no such consideration.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For conservationists, alien status certainly matters. <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2006.0444">Alien species act differently</a> to native species in their new environments, which can give them an advantage over locals in terms of competition for food, predation and spreading new diseases. This can cause native population declines and extinctions.</p>
<p>As a result, species considered alien in their ecosystems are often targets for control and eradication. But species considered native are usually protected even if they have extended their range significantly, like eastern water dragons or the Australian white ibis. </p>
<p>Native status is, of course, a human construct. Past definitions of nativeness have not directly considered the ecological reasons for concern about alien species. </p>
<p>This is what <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/358/472935/An-eco-evolutionary-rationale-to-distinguish-alien">my new research</a> seeks to address. </p>
<h2>An ecological definition of nativeness</h2>
<p>What I propose are three staged criteria to determine when an introduced species becomes native:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>has the introduced species evolved in its new environment? </p></li>
<li><p>do native species recognise and respond to the introduced species as they do other local species? </p></li>
<li><p>are the interactions between introduced and established native species similar to interactions between native species (that is, their impacts on local species are not negative and exaggerated)?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For dingoes on mainland Australia, the answer is yes for all three criteria. We should consider them native. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes on mainland Australia meet the criteria for native status.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Banks</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Firstly, dingoes are not the same dogs first brought here. Dingoes are now <a href="https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4564.1.6">quite different</a> to their close ancestors in Southeast Asia, in terms of behaviour, how they reproduce and how they look. These <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14515-6">differences have a genetic basis</a>, suggesting they have evolved since their arrival in Australia. Their heads are now shaped differently, they breed less often and have better problem solving skills than other close dog relatives. </p>
<p>Second, it is well established that native prey species on mainland Australia <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2018.0857">recognise and respond to dingoes</a> as dangerous predators – which they are.</p>
<p>Finally, dingo impacts on prey species <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/338/447847/Introgression-does-not-influence-the-positive?redirectedFrom=fulltext">are not devastating</a> like those of alien predators such as feral cats and foxes. While hunting by dingoes does suppress prey numbers, they don’t keep them as low (and at greater risk of extinction) as do foxes and cats.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">The dingo is a true-blue, native Australian species</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Of course, dingo impacts were unlikely to have always been so benign. Dingoes are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1191/0959683603hl682fa">linked to the extinction</a> of Tasmanian tigers (Thylacines), Tasmanian devils and the Tasmanian flightless hen, which disappeared from mainland Australia soon after the dingo arrived. </p>
<p>In my paper, I argue such impacts no longer occur because of evolutionary change in both dingoes and their prey. We can see this in Tasmania, which dingoes never reached. There, prey species like bandicoots still show <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161447">naiveté towards dogs</a>. That means we should not consider dingoes to be native to Tasmania.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native prey species on the mainland recognise and respond to dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Alien today, native tomorrow?</h2>
<p>This idea challenges the dogma alien species remain alien forever. This is an unsettling concept for ecologists dealing with the major and ongoing damage done by newer arrivals. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/62/3/217/358332">Some argue</a> we should never embrace alien species into natural ecosystems. </p>
<p>This makes no sense for long-established introduced species, which might now be playing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">positive role</a> in ecosystems. But it’s a different story for recently introduced species like cats, given not enough time has passed to get past the exaggerated impacts on local species. </p>
<p>These ideas are not about considering all species present in an ecosystem to be native. Introduced species should still be considered alien until proven native.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cat sitting in the outback" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cats are a bigger threat to Australian wildlife than dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This approach suggests ways of classifying species which might be native to a country but have moved to new places within the country through mechanisms like climate change or re-wilding. For example, we can’t simply assume returning Tasmanian devils to <a href="https://theconversation.com/bringing-devils-back-to-the-mainland-could-help-wildlife-conservation-43121">mainland Australia</a> more than 3,000 years after dingoes drove them extinct there would count as reintroducing a native species. </p>
<p>Defining nativeness in this ecological way will help resolve some of the heated and long-running debates over how to distinguish alien and native species. </p>
<p>How? Because it targets the key reason conservationists were worried about alien species in the first place – the damage they can do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Banks receives funding from the Australian Research Council and The Hermon Slade Foundation </span></em></p>Dingoes have evolved under Australian conditions. That’s just one step in the path the iconic dog has taken to become native.Peter Banks, Professor of Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556422021-02-23T19:10:42Z2021-02-23T19:10:42ZThe dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385681/original/file-20210222-19-r4r2ax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3488%2C2616&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The dingo fence in the Strzelecki Desert.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Letnic</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As one of the longest structures in the world, the dingo fence is an icon of Australia. It stretches more than 5,600 kilometres across three states, including 150 kilometres that traverses the red sand dunes of the Strzelecki Desert.</p>
<p>Since it was established in the early 20th century, the fence has had one job: to keep dingoes out. The effect of this on the environment has been enormous — in fact, you can see it from outer space.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-021-01206-w">research</a> has, for the first time, used satellite imagery to show the effects of predators on vegetation at a vast scale. </p>
<p>Dingoes eat kangaroos, and kangaroos eat grass. So on the side of the fence where dingoes are rare, there are more kangaroos, and less grass cover between sand dunes. This has important flow-on effects for the ecosystem in the region. </p>
<p>Similar changes to vegetation may have occurred throughout the world, where other large predators, such as wolves or big cats, have been removed. But these aren’t visible without the stark contrast boundaries like the dingo fence provide.</p>
<h2>Reshaping the landscape</h2>
<p>The fence was built to stop dingoes moving into sheep grazing land in southeastern Australia. As Australia’s largest terrestrial predator, dingoes pose a big threat to livestock. </p>
<p>Today, dingoes “inside” the fence continue to be killed by various means (not all <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-21/farm-operator-guilty-over-motorbike-death-on-remote-nsw-property/10287564">of them humane</a>), including <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/vertebrate-pests/pest-animals-in-nsw/wild-dogs/wild-dog-control">poison baits, trapping and shooting</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385207/original/file-20210219-12-fenk28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where dingoes are removed, increasing populations of kangaroos can lead to overgrazing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Chu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has long been understood that removing large predators can drive changes in ecosystems across large areas. A well-known example is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.06.007">removal of wolves</a> in Yellowstone National Park in the 1920s, which saw an elk grazing increase, limiting the growth of tree and shrub seedlings.</p>
<p>Where dingoes are removed, increasing populations of kangaroos can lead to overgrazing. This, in turn, damages the quality of the soil, making the landscape more vulnerable to erosion. </p>
<p>Less vegetation can also leave small animals, such as the vulnerable dusky hopping mouse, exposed to other threats like cat predation. Indeed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">2019 research showed</a> dingoes “outside” the fence keep cat and fox populations down in the Strzelecki Desert. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">Like cats and dogs: dingoes can keep feral cats in check</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/how-dingoes-sculpt-shape-sand-dunes-australian-desert">research from 2018</a> showed dingo removal could even reshape the desert landscape, as changes to vegetation alter wind flow and sand movement.</p>
<h2>Changes this large can’t be seen from the ground</h2>
<p>Often, however, the effects of removing predators have gone unnoticed. There are two main reasons why. </p>
<p>First, many large predators were removed before scientists monitored ecosystems. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2004.00038.x">For example</a>, wolves were hunted to extinction in Britain during the 17th or 18th century (although there are now <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-33533035">proposals to reintroduce them</a>). </p>
<p>Second, changes occur over such large areas, so it’s difficult to spot any differences when researching from the ground.</p>
<p>So to gauge the impact of the fence, we used images captured by sensors on the NASA Landsat satellites, which have been regularly observing the Earth since 1972.</p>
<p>We looked at a section of the fence that follows the state border of New South Wales through the Strzelecki Desert, and used this to analyse the effects of removing a top predator.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ivmQk5EsScw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">32-year time lapse of dead vegetation cover for the Strzelecki Desert.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Capturing the impact</h2>
<p>We used images processed for Australia by the <a href="https://www.jrsrp.org.au/">Joint Remote Sensing Research Program</a>, which are <a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/">publicly available</a>. </p>
<p>Using thousands of field measurements, each satellite image was converted into an image of “fractional cover”. This splits the landscape into three core components: bare soil, green vegetation and dead or dry vegetation. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kangaroos-and-other-herbivores-are-eating-away-at-national-parks-across-australia-122953">Kangaroos (and other herbivores) are eating away at national parks across Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The dead vegetation fraction, which includes all non-photosynthetic material such as dry leaves and twigs, is particularly useful in the desert. It’s a more reliable indicator of vegetation cover, as green vegetation only sticks around for three months or so <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.4721">after rain</a>.</p>
<p>Viewing “natural colour” satellite images of the Strzelecki Desert, as our eyes see the world, doesn’t show the differences across the dingo fence very well. But when we view images of dead vegetation cover a few months after rainfall, we can see the stark effect kangaroo grazing has on the landscape, where dingoes are rare. </p>
<p>You can see these effects in the images below.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385221/original/file-20210219-16-16iwswj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A natural colour Landsat image from winter in 2011 after a large rainfall event (left) does not show the dingo fence, though it does when converted to dead vegetation cover (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adrian Fisher</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When we analysed dead vegetation cover images for each season between 1988 and 2020, we found obvious differences between the maximum dead vegetation cover and the variability of dead vegetation cover through time, as the images below show. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385211/original/file-20210219-14-ycd1fm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The differences in vegetation cover across the dingo fence become most apparent after satellite images are converted to dead vegetation cover and analysed over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adrian Fisher</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The results from satellite images were supported by ground surveys. This included repeated nighttime counts of kangaroos and dingoes seen with powerful spotlights. </p>
<p>We also fenced off plots and observed how the vegetation changed. After five years, the kangaroo-free plots in the dingo-free areas looked like islands of grass in an otherwise bare desert.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385212/original/file-20210219-22-1vym2x3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the fenced plots excluding kangaroos in Sturt National Park, western NSW, showing a clear difference in vegetation cover due to grazing pressure where dingoes are rare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Letnic</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do we do about dingoes?</h2>
<p>So, should we tear down the fence to reintroduce dingoes back into landscapes for the biodiversity benefits, like wolves in Yellowstone?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/animal-rights-group-raise-concerns-over-grampians-dingo-plan-20210127-p56x7z.html">There are no simple answers</a> to this question. Allowing dingoes to return to the landscape inside the fence will reduce kangaroo numbers and increase grass growth — but will also devastate sheep farming. </p>
<p>Conservationists, farmers and other land managers need to start discussing where and how we can safely return dingoes to landscapes, finding a balance between restoring ecosystems and protecting farms.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/living-blanket-water-diviner-wild-pet-a-cultural-history-of-the-dingo-80189">Living blanket, water diviner, wild pet: a cultural history of the dingo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Letnic receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mitchell Lyons receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Cornwell receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian G. Fisher and Charlotte Mills do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The dingo fence is the longest fence in the world. The environment looks almost identical on either side — until you view it from space.Adrian G. Fisher, Lecturer in Remote Sensing, UNSW SydneyCharlotte Mills, Visiting Fellow, UNSW SydneyMike Letnic, Professor, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, UNSW SydneyMitchell Lyons, Senior research fellow, The University of QueenslandWill Cornwell, Associate Professor in Ecology and Evolution, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1321952020-03-13T01:20:39Z2020-03-13T01:20:39ZAir-dropping poisoned meat to kill bush predators hasn’t worked in the past, and it’s unlikely to help now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319029/original/file-20200306-118913-vu6qnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C47%2C3504%2C2152&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the summer’s devastating bushfires, the New South Wales government announced a plan to airdrop <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/Fire/wildlife-and-conservation-bushfire-recovery-immediate-response-january-2020-200027.pdf">one million poisoned baits</a> in the state’s most vulnerable regions over the next year. The plan is aimed at protecting surviving native animals from foxes, feral cats and wild dogs. </p>
<p>This isn’t the first time aerial baiting has been used in NSW recently. As the fire season got underway in September last year, the government’s biannual aerial baiting program scattered baits over nearly 8 million hectares in the <a href="https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?u=6c8aab7847cab6de73ba979b9&id=5a4baab2ab#mctoc3">Western Division</a> alone - dispensing 43,442 aerial baits and 115,162 ground-laid baits over the drought-stricken region. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320163/original/file-20200312-111227-18zog2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biosecurity officers drying meat baits for the Autumn baiting program in Broken Hill last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NSW Government, Local Land Services, Western Region</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a <a href="https://publications.rzsnsw.org.au/doi/10.7882/AZ.2020.011">study published this week</a>, I explore Australia’s history as pioneers of this technology. The review raises serious concerns about the ethics and poor results of baiting programs, and the high uptake of baits by non-target species such as marsupials.</p>
<h2>D-day for dingoes</h2>
<p>Aerial baiting has been Australia’s foremost weapon against pest species for the past 74 years. The initial target was the dingo, to protect unguarded livestock from being killed. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australia-made-poisoning-animals-normal-107004">How Australia made poisoning animals normal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It started on <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71430006">Remembrance Day in 1946</a>. Around 367,000 dry meat baits were airdropped across Queensland, each containing enough strychnine to kill an adult dingo. The campaign was considered a victory, despite only recovering one dingo carcass during the initial operation. Livestock predation apparently decreased; tracks in the sand vanished. </p>
<p>The following year, 1.5 million baits were distributed. Then in 1948 the quantity increased to 2.5 million baits across remote regions of Queensland and the Northern Territory. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320042/original/file-20200312-14977-1iy56x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Livestock predation decreased after airdropping baits, but at what cost?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO Science Image</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Thousands of baits to kill one dingo</h2>
<p>The strychnine tablets took up to <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=procite:f3df657c-27e8-4ac7-844f-4db66563b9a3&dsid=DS1">12 tortuous hours</a> for the poison to deliver its lethal kill. The baits used in research trials were still toxic after 14 weeks. </p>
<p>There was huge public criticism of the project at the time - much of it from graziers. They claimed ants and valuable pest-eating birds – magpies, small hawks, butcher birds, crows, ibis and curlew – were eating the baits. </p>
<p>In response, the Queensland government set up the first monitored trials. The 1954 report from the <a href="https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1369&context=journal_agriculture3">Chief Vermin Control Officer</a> recorded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the dry season campaigns, the baits are dropped on water-holes, soaks, junctions of dried water courses, gorges in hills and all places where dogs must travel or gather in their search for water and game and in their movements with pups from the breeding areas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The data recorded an average 14,941 baits dispensed for every dingo carcass recovered. Anecdotal evidence suggests the program was considered a success.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316806/original/file-20200224-24685-1jokrqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CSIRO research worker with young dingo, 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then in 1968 – 21 years after aerial campaigns began – a <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=procite:f3df657c-27e8-4ac7-844f-4db66563b9a3&dsid=DS1">four-year CSIRO study</a> tested the effectiveness of aerial baiting. It found the 1954 report was far from conclusive – the dingoes may just have moved elsewhere. And it concluded: “clearly aerial baiting was not effective”. </p>
<p>But there was an important caveat:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is important to emphasise that, though this aerial baiting campaign was a failure, such a conclusion does not necessarily apply to any other campaign. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the strength of that, aerial baiting programs continued. </p>
<h2>Not much has changed</h2>
<p>Despite millions of baits applied annually to the environment since the 1940s, Australia’s biodiversity has plummeted. </p>
<p>What’s more, developments in the technology haven’t come far. Raw meat baits eventually replaced dry baits in some areas. Strychnine was superseded by 1080, a less harmful poison to non-target native species, and less persistent in the environment. </p>
<p>Trials in the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/wr9860165">1980s</a> brought the bait-to-kill rate down to 750 to 1 (baits per dingo carcass recovered). This was considered a cost-effective and successful outcome. </p>
<p>Soon after, aerial baiting found a new market, becoming the frontline defence against Australia’s plummeting biodiversity from invasive predators. </p>
<h2>Baits are not benign to marsupials</h2>
<p>In 2008, the <a href="https://apvma.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication/15061-sodium-fluororacetate-1080-final-review-report.pdf">Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority</a> imposed a limit of ten baits per kilometre to reduce risk to non-target species.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pestsmart.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/FlemingBallard_AerialBaitingRept_APVMA.pdf">Pest control agencies</a> need four times that amount of poison to achieve a successful kill rate. Yet planes have been dispensing baits at this lower and ineffective rate since 2008. </p>
<p>Why? It seems a balance between wildlife safety and effective canine or predator eradication isn’t possible with this technology. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-found-in-new-south-wales-but-were-killing-them-as-wild-dogs-126184">Dingoes found in New South Wales, but we're killing them as 'wild dogs'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In fact, it has been impossible to accurately trace the fate of baits thrown from aeroplanes into remote terrain. Even ground baiting trials have proved difficult to monitor. <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR17182">A 2018 trial</a> found non-target species consumed more than 71% of ground-laid meat baits, including ravens, crows, goannas, monitor lizards, marsupials and ants. </p>
<p>Four young dingoes died during this trial, representing only a 1.25% uptake by target. Despite monitoring with cameras and sand traps, 599 baits out of 961 in the trial disappeared without a trace.</p>
<p><iframe id="4v9ne" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4v9ne/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These baits are not benign. <a href="https://publications.rzsnsw.org.au/doi/10.7882/AZ.2020.011">Repeat doses</a> can kill marsupials; non-lethal doses can kill pouch young. Secondary poisoning can also be lethal. Applying this outdated technology to vulnerable bushfire regions is from a historical viewpoint, potentially hazardous.</p>
<h2>Surely there’s another way</h2>
<p>There are new technologies available to help protect and repair Australia’s <a href="https://conservationbytes.com/2019/10/10/victoria-please-dont-aerial-bait-dingoes/">fragile and broken ecosystems</a>. Remote surveillance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/drones-help-track-wildfires-count-wildlife-and-map-plants-125115">drones</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-019-00304-3">AI</a>, heat sensing equipment, and more could locate populations and dispatch dangerous animals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">Guardian dogs, fencing, and 'fladry' protect livestock from carnivores</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If aerial baiting continues, aerial surveillance could at least follow the fate of the one million baits and tell us what and who is eating them – who lives and who dies in the stripped-bare landscape. </p>
<p>One thing is for certain: halting the program would prevent hundreds of thousands of these poisoned meat baits ending up in the stomachs of our treasured native animals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132195/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine M. Philip received funding from the University of New England, NSW, towards the research as part of her PhD thesis. The report was written while on a research fellowship with the Center for the History of Global Development, Shanghai University, China. </span></em></p>Aerial baiting has been Australia’s foremost weapon against pest species for the past 74 years. But at what cost?Justine M. Philip, Doctor of Philosophy, Ecosystem Management, Museums Victoria Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1279262019-11-28T19:10:34Z2019-11-28T19:10:34ZNon-native species should count in conservation – even in Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303949/original/file-20191127-112493-7cr2jn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia is home to many new species, including wild camels found nowhere else on Earth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the world struggles to keep tabs on biodiversity decline, conservation largely relies on a single international database to track life on Earth. It is a mammoth and impressive undertaking – but a glaring omission from the list may be frustrating conservation efforts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-defence-of-invasive-alien-species-10977">In defence of invasive alien species
</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">Red List</a> aims to be a “complete barometer of life”. But non-native wildlife is excluded from the list.</p>
<p>Our study, published today in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13447">Conservation Biology</a>, questions the wisdom of this omission. It means, for example, vulnerable species facing existential threats in their “home country” may be exterminated freely in another. Excluding these animals, such as wild camels in Australia, and rare Australian frogs living overseas, distorts conservation science.</p>
<h2>What counts as ‘native’?</h2>
<p><a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13126">The concept of “native” draws a sharp line</a> between species that count and those that don’t. It is essentially an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444329988.ch4">ethical choice</a>, and a disputed one at that. Regardless of whether one defends or disputes the concept, it is problematic to use a moral term to filter a critical source of scientific data. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304188/original/file-20191128-176593-idirey.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trash Animals: How We Live with Nature’s Filthy, Feral, Invasive, and Unwanted Species.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The invisible components of biodiversity – those populations excluded from conservation’s definition of life – can be found in <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/trash-animals">trash</a> lists, where they are <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/1540-9295(2005)003%5B0495:TWOTRD%5D2.0.CO%3B2">described</a> as invasive, aliens, pests, and feral. </p>
<p>So what does the world look like if we include all wildlife in biodiversity assessments? We rummaged around in the “trash piles” to find out.</p>
<h2>When all life counts</h2>
<p>By focusing on Australian non-native vertebrate species – amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles – we did something many conservationists would find unthinkable. We added unloved species such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-give-feral-cats-their-citizenship-45165">feral cats</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-you-heard-right-more-cane-toads-really-can-help-us-fight-cane-toads-67241">cane toads</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-love-to-hate-the-common-myna-but-what-should-we-do-about-it-8530">Indian myna</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-release-the-deadly-carp-virus-into-our-rivers-and-water-supplies-57982">carp</a> to Australia’s biodiversity counts. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://feralglobe.shinyapps.io/australian_migrants_app/">created maps</a> showing the range of 87 species whose ancestors were introduced into Australia, and 47 species native to Australia that were introduced elsewhere, since European colonisation. </p>
<p>Many of these so-called invasive species are at risk of extinction in their native ranges; 32% are assessed as threatened or decreasing in the Red List. For 15 of them, non-native ranges provide a lifeline. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303955/original/file-20191127-112489-13fwiq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s vertebrate species that are threatened or near threatened in their native ranges with significant populations overseas. From left-to-right: Indian hog deer, banteng, wild cattle, wild water buffalo, wild camel; wild goat, carp, wild donkey, brumby, Mozambique tilapia; European rabbit, Javan rusa, sambar deer, and (emigrants) green and golden bell frog, growling grass frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arian Wallach et al</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not only does Australia contribute to the survival and flourishing of these species, but immigrant vertebrates have also added <a href="https://youtu.be/Mu3tb7tULIs">52 species</a> to the number of vertebrate species in Australia (after accounting for extinctions). </p>
<p>This number in no way indicates that non-native species replace or make up for those that have been lost. And it does not exonerate humans of their role in causing extinctions. But the current data do not even allow us to acknowledge that these species exist. </p>
<p>Because they are not counted in conservation, these non-native populations are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-43183-7_20">subjected to mass eradication programs</a>. Paradoxically, in assessing how such programs are justified, we found conservation is the most frequently cited reason for killing these wild animals.</p>
<p>Dromedary camels were extinct in the wild for some 5,000 years until they “went feral” in Australia, where they are now endemic. Rather than celebrating what is arguably the most extraordinary rewilding event in the world, wild camels were declared a pest. Between 2009 and 2013, Australia spent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2013-11-21/feral-camel-culling-report/5105884">A$19 million</a> to gun down 160,000 individuals of a species found nowhere else on Earth in the wild. </p>
<p>Likewise, 89% of the global distribution of Javan rusa, a deer species vulnerable to extinction, is in Australia. As <a href="https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health-pests-weeds-diseases/pests/invasive-animals/restricted/rusa-deer">pest</a>, they are culled and hunted for sport. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303942/original/file-20191127-112545-tnyppi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stated motivations for killing Australia’s immigrant vertebrate wildlife, shown as percentages of species targeted per taxonomic group. Numbers above bars indicate absolute number of species targeted.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nativism not only renders countless species invisible, along with <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-feral-camels-to-cocaine-hippos-large-animals-are-rewilding-the-world-83301">their unique and fascinating ecologies</a>; it also exposes them to <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13346">unfettered</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/feral-cat-cull-why-the-2-million-target-is-on-scientifically-shaky-ground-111824">unscientific</a>, <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12896">unmonitored</a>, and <a href="https://www.conservationmagazine.org/2014/10/killing-for-conservation/">unlamented</a> mass killing programs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-feral-camels-to-cocaine-hippos-large-animals-are-rewilding-the-world-83301">From feral camels to 'cocaine hippos', large animals are rewilding the world</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Mass killing of non-native species, if questioned at all, is generally explained as <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15231739/2019/33/4#heading-level-1-4">protecting native species</a>. But ecology is complex. One cannot simply assume that all non-native populations, in all contexts, do nothing but harm. </p>
<p>Where non-native species do contribute to the loss of native species, humans need to confront the ethical complexities and shoulder real responsibility, rather than simply reach for a gun as a first solution. </p>
<p>In many situations changing harmful human behaviours, like persecuting apex predators <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-should-enlist-dingoes-to-control-invasive-species-24807">such as dingoes</a>, can solve problems that appear to be caused solely by non-native species.</p>
<p>Irrespective of whether we value non-native species or not, there is no scientific justification for expunging large swaths of the living world from conservation data. Smuggling ethically dubious distinctions into data harms conservation science, and has grave repercussions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-toad-we-love-to-hate-11521">The toad we love to hate</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Persisting with the assumption that we have the right to pick and choose which species “count” looks like playing God. By now, we should have learned we must not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arian Wallach receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chelsea Batavia receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research Program at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Celermajer receives funding from the European Union.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Ramp receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is a Director of Voiceless.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erick Lundgren and Esty Yanco do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Species counts drive conservation science and policy, yet a major component of biodiversity is excluded from the data: non-native species.Arian Wallach, Lecturer, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology SydneyChelsea Batavia, Postdoctoral research associate, Oregon State UniversityDanielle Celermajer, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of SydneyDaniel Ramp, Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology SydneyErick Lundgren, PhD Student, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology SydneyEsty Yanco, PhD Candidate, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1261842019-10-31T18:54:34Z2019-10-31T18:54:34ZDingoes found in New South Wales, but we’re killing them as ‘wild dogs’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299591/original/file-20191030-17908-1xssb8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One in four of nearly 800 animals genetically tested were pure dingo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle J Photography</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a widespread belief dingoes are as good as extinct in New South Wales and nearly all dog-like animals in the wild are simply wild dogs. This belief is bolstered by legislation and policies in NSW, which have removed the word dingo and refer only to “wild dogs”.</p>
<p>But our research, recently published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-019-01230-z">Conservation Genetics</a>, challenges this assumption. We performed DNA ancestry testing, much like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dna-ancestry-testing-can-change-our-ideas-of-who-we-are-114428">ancestry tests</a> available to people, on 783 wild canines killed as part of pest control measures in NSW. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">The dingo is a true-blue, native Australian species</a>
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<p>Roughly one in four of the animals we tested were pure dingoes, and most were genetically more than three-quarters dingo. Only 5 of the 783 animals we tested turned out to be feral domestic dogs with no dingo ancestry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299604/original/file-20191031-187907-xkn0b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If it looks like a dingo, acts like a dingo and shares dingo genes… there’s a pretty good chance it’s a dingo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle J Photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dingo hotspots</h2>
<p>Studies carried out by the CSIRO in the 1980s and ‘90s examined the <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/ZO9850363">skulls of wild canines</a> in southeastern Australia, and concluded they were largely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR9960581">hybrids of dingoes and dogs</a>.</p>
<p>In NSW all wild dogs are classified as <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/602039/Wild-Dog-PCO.pdf">pest animals</a>. Under the <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/legislation/list/biosecurity-act-2015">NSW Biosecurity Act 2015</a> all landholders have a duty to control wild dogs to minimise the risk of negative impacts on neighbouring land. </p>
<p>This policy requires all public and private landholders in NSW to display signs warning when poison baits have been laid to kill wild dogs.</p>
<p>But our DNA testing found three hotspots of high dingo ancestry within northeastern NSW: Washpool National Park; the coast north of Port Macquarie; and the Myall lakes region. </p>
<p>There were more pure dingoes in these areas. Despite these positive findings, dingo-dog hybridisation is still very prevalent in NSW. Three-quarters of wild animals carry some domestic dog ancestry. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-and-humans-were-once-friends-separating-them-could-be-why-they-attack-115917">Dingoes and humans were once friends. Separating them could be why they attack</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>This is not entirely surprising. Domestic pet and working dogs have lived alongside dingoes for centuries. Widespread killing of dingoes also increases the risk of hybridisation because it <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0006861">breaks family groups apart</a>, giving domestic dogs the opportunity to mate with dingoes. Small populations also have a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-018-0094-x">higher risk</a> of hybridisation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299611/original/file-20191031-187898-1vgg0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1080 poison baits are affecting dingoes as well as feral dogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Letnic</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hybridisation is generally considered detrimental to conservation because it alters the genome. In the case of dingoes, hybridisation is a problem because hybrids may be different to dingoes and “true” dingoes will eventually disappear. </p>
<p>While our results show dingoes still exist and their genes are predominate, their conservation will be greatly helped if we can prevent further interbreeding with domestic dogs. </p>
<h2>Time to resurrect the dingo</h2>
<p>Our study has important implications for both how we describe dingoes, and the future conservation of dingoes in NSW. Most of the animals labelled as wild dogs in NSW had predominantly dingo DNA, and fewer than 1% were actually feral dogs.</p>
<p>The term wild dog obfuscates the identity of wild animals whose genes are mostly dingo but sometimes carry dog genes. For all intents and purposes, these animals have dingo DNA, look like dingoes and behave like dingoes, and consequently should be labelled as dingoes rather than escaped pets gone wild.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-do-bark-why-most-dingo-facts-you-think-you-know-are-wrong-68816">Dingoes do bark: why most dingo facts you think you know are wrong</a>
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<hr>
<p>Hotspots with high dingo ancestry have significant conservation value and urgently need new management plans to ensure these pure dingo populations are protected from hybridisation. These populations could be protected by restricting the killing of dingoes in these areas and restricting access to domestic dogs on public land such as state forests. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299605/original/file-20191031-187898-c92q15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Animals long thought to be wild dogs are actually predominantly dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle J Photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further ancestry testing should be conducted in more areas to determine whether there are other pockets of high dingo purity in NSW.</p>
<p>Undeniably, dingoes can negatively impact livestock producers, especially sheep farmers. Non-lethal strategies such as electric or exclusion fencing, and livestock guarding animals such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">dogs, llamas and donkeys</a>, may balance the need to conserve dingoes and protect vulnerable livestock. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">Guardian dogs, fencing, and 'fladry' protect livestock from carnivores</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>In some circumstances, dingoes can <a href="https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/3568996/dingoes-can-be-allies/">benefit</a> farmers because they reduce numbers of native and feral herbivores like kangaroos, feral goats, rabbits and pigs, boosting pasture growth for livestock. </p>
<p>If lethal control is justified, then targeted strategies such as shooting and trapping may be more suitable in high dingo conservation areas rather than landscape-wide poison aerial baiting.</p>
<p>It is time to resurrect the dingo. The term dingo needs to come back into official language, and we need practical strategies for limiting dingo-dog hybridisation and protecting dingo hotspots. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dog-owners-could-take-the-lead-on-dingo-conservation-with-a-fido-fund-118124">Dog owners could take the lead on dingo conservation with a 'Fido fund'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kylie M Cairns receives funding from The Australian Dingo Foundation and The Hermon Slade Foundation. Kylie is a scientific advisor to The Australian Dingo Foundation, The New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society and The New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Nesbitt is a Wildlife Consultant and has previously worked for NSW NPWS. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Crowther receives funding from the Australian Research Council and NSW Government</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Letnic receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shawn Laffan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is a myth that dingoes are extinct and wild dogs are all that remain in Australia. Our results show dingoes in New South Wales persist despite some mixing with domestic dogs.Kylie M Cairns, Research fellow, UNSW SydneyBrad Nesbitt, Adjunct Research Fellow, University of New EnglandMathew Crowther, Associate professor, University of SydneyMike Letnic, Professor, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW SydneyShawn Laffan, Associate professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1230392019-10-17T04:16:31Z2019-10-17T04:16:31ZCats are not scared off by dingoes. We must find another way to protect native animals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296802/original/file-20191014-135505-17nrvea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C3982%2C1988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research suggests feral cats can probably outsmart dingoes. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Feral cats are wreaking havoc on our native wildlife, eating more than a billion animals across Australia every year. But managing feral cats and reducing their impacts on our threatened species is challenging, to say the least.</p>
<p>Aside from killing native animals, feral cats spread parasites and diseases such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/toxoplasmosis-how-feral-cats-kill-wildlife-without-lifting-a-paw-32228">toxoplasmosis</a> which can kill native wildlife or make them more susceptible to predators. </p>
<p>To reduce these impacts, we must reduce feral cat populations. The difficulty is finding the right approach.</p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">suggestions</a> that dingoes could help conserve biodiversity by controlling feral cats. But the evidence does not support this approach.</p>
<p>We investigated the relationship between dingoes and feral cats in central Queensland. Contrary to previous suggestions, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13514">we found that</a> cats remained abundant, active and widespread, regardless of whether dingoes were present or absent, and regardless of where or when dingoes were active.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that proposals to restore or reintroduce dingoes to protect threatened species may do more harm than good.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292482/original/file-20190914-8653-19jghy6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feral cats eat over a billion animals in Australia every year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bronwyn Fancourt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do dingoes create a ‘landscape of fear’?</h2>
<p>Some studies have reported fewer cats in areas with dingoes, concluding that dingoes must be suppressing cat numbers. However, these studies typically estimate the number of dingoes and cats using the number of <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2013.3094">footprints on a sand plot</a>, counts from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10021-019-00360-2">spotlight searches</a>, or even the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02207.x">raw number of images</a> captured on camera traps.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, all of these methods are known to be <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12250">poor measures of abundance</a>. Accordingly, whether or not dingoes suppress the abundance of cats remains hotly debated.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-hidden-toll-australias-cats-kill-almost-650-million-reptiles-a-year-98854">A hidden toll: Australia's cats kill almost 650 million reptiles a year</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It has also been suggested that dingoes create a <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12369">‘landscape of fear’</a>, scaring cats and forcing them to change their behaviour to avoid dingoes. According to this hypothesis, dingoes might create cat-free periods or areas in the landscape, where threatened species could live without being harassed by cats.</p>
<p>By scaring cats away, some argue that dingoes might also prevent cats from hunting in the best areas, or hunting at the best times. Over time, this might even reduce cat populations by reducing their hunting success, body condition and breeding success.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292486/original/file-20190914-8678-apo2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Kakadu dingo. New research shows dingoes failed to prevent feral cat activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Fleming</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cats don’t give two hoots about dingoes</h2>
<p>These suggestions might sound promising for conservation. But in reality, we found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13514">dingoes do not impact cat activity</a>. </p>
<p>Dingoes did not exclude cats from any patches, and cats were widespread across our study sites. Not only were cats and dingoes active in the same areas, cat activity was actually higher in patches where dingoes roamed than in areas where dingoes were absent. This suggests that dingoes do not create cat-free refuges in the landscape to protect threatened species.</p>
<p>Cats and dingoes were also active at the same times. While activity times for dingoes and cats overlapped at both sites, there was slightly less overlap at one site. But interestingly, this was because dingoes, not cats, had shifted their activity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-whom-the-bell-tolls-cats-kill-more-than-a-million-australian-birds-every-day-85084">For whom the bell tolls: cats kill more than a million Australian birds every day</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>Cat densities at our sites were around 50% higher than the national average. This means that dingoes are not controlling cat numbers, either by killing or scaring cats, changing cat behaviour, or reducing their hunting or breeding success. Cats remained active, abundant and widespread across our sites, and our evidence suggests they also hunt and breed successfully in areas with dingoes.</p>
<p>A group of world-leading taxonomists recently determined that dingoes are <a href="https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4564.1.7">not a distinct species</a>, but actually a <a href="https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4317.2.1">type of dog</a>. Cats have lived around dogs for tens of thousands of years, and have clearly learned how to outsmart them in order to coexist. Our findings suggest that feral cats are no different to their domestic cousins in their ability to outsmart and coexist with dingoes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296772/original/file-20191013-96252-17qk28d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cats and dogs have co-existed for thousands of years, suggesting feral cats won’t easily be scared by dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lessons from history</h2>
<p>History is littered with examples of dingoes failing to protect threatened species from feral cats. Soon after European settlement, feral cats established and spread across Australia, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/112/15/4531.abstract">causing the extinction of dozens of Australian native mammal species</a>. This mass destruction occurred in the presence of dingoes, which had been introduced to Australia <a href="https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4564.1.7">up to 5000 years earlier</a>. </p>
<p>If the dingo couldn’t stop the spread of feral cats and protect threatened species from extinction while cats numbers were still low, it seems extremely unlikely that they could effectively suppress the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320716309223">two to six million feral cats that occupy 99.8% of Australia today</a>.</p>
<p>The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States is often <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-american-wolves-can-teach-us-about-australian-dingoes-27815">touted as an example</a> of how dingoes could restructure Australian ecosystems and protect our biodiversity. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-wolf-in-dogs-clothing-why-dingoes-may-not-be-australian-wildlifes-saviours-72185">Australia isn’t Yellowstone</a>, and dingoes aren’t wolves. Wolves are a native top-order predator in Yellowstone, while the dingo is merely an introduced middle-sized predator in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292984/original/file-20190918-187940-42layn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feral cats were breeding and hunting successfully in areas with high dingo activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bronwyn Fancourt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dingoes eat threatened species too</h2>
<p>Even if dingoes could suppress cats, dingoes are still predators that hunt and kill to survive. It is often <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">claimed</a> that dingoes are beneficial because they kill invasive pests and overabundant native animals. But they also kill the threatened species that they are supposed to protect.</p>
<p>For example, dingoes are the major predator of endangered adult <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320700002007">bridled nailtail wallabies</a>, and have contributed to the failure of reintroduction programs for other threatened species, including <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aec.12551">northern quolls</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320711003119">burrowing bettongs</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-is-a-true-blue-native-australian-species-111538">The dingo is a true-blue, native Australian species</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>Australia is rapidly losing the fight to save our threatened species.
Trapping, shooting and exclusion fencing can all help control cats in small areas, but these approaches are not feasible, sustainable or effective over large areas. </p>
<p>Better approaches are needed to control invasive predators such as feral cats and protect our threatened species. But using one introduced predator to control another introduced predator is clearly not the solution.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-written by Dr Matt Gentle, a co-author of the research. Matt is a principal scientist with the Pest Animal Research Centre within Biosecurity Queensland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Fancourt has previously received funding from the Queensland Government Feral Pest Initiative to investigate ways to improve feral cat management in Queensland.</span></em></p>Cats have lived around dogs for tens of thousands of years. So using dingoes to control feral cats will not protect our wildlife.Bronwyn Fancourt, Adjunct Research Fellow, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1171832019-08-15T02:13:07Z2019-08-15T02:13:07ZHow ancient seafarers and their dogs helped a humble louse conquer the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287955/original/file-20190814-136176-dom5tp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C995%2C606&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Male (left) and female Heterodoxus spiniger from Borneo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Natural History Museum, London</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This is the story of how a parasitic, skin-chewing insect came to conquer the world. </p>
<p>For more than a century, scientists have been puzzled as to how an obscure louse native to Australia came to be found on dogs across the world. <em>Heterodoxus spiniger</em> evolved to live in the fur of the agile wallaby. </p>
<p>Despite little evidence to back the idea, many researchers believed it was linked to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303709X434149">people from Asia bringing the dingo to Australia</a> in ancient times. Perhaps people later took dingoes infested with this parasite back home, where it spread to local dogs, and onwards from there. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-do-bark-why-most-dingo-facts-you-think-you-know-are-wrong-68816">Dingoes do bark: why most dingo facts you think you know are wrong</a>
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<p>But when we approached the question again using the most up-to-date information, my colleague Peter Contos and I came up with a completely different explanation – one that better fits what we know of ancient migration and trade in the Asia-Pacific region.</p>
<p>As we report in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14614103.2019.1653619">Environmental Archaeology</a>, this louse probably originated not in Australia but in New Guinea, an island with a long history of intimate connection with seafaring Asian cultures.</p>
<h2>Louse on the loose</h2>
<p><em>H. spiniger</em> is a tiny louse that lives on mammals around the world, mostly dogs. Using its clawed legs to hang on, it bites and chews at the skin and hair of its hosts to draw the blood on which it feeds.</p>
<p>As all its closest relatives are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0020751994901953">specialised parasites of marsupials</a>, mostly other wallabies, logic suggested that <em>H. spiniger</em> must have evolved within Australia. It also seemed logical it would have spread first to the dingo, Australia’s native dog.</p>
<p>Our first task was to figure out just how far away from Australia it had spread; this would inform the likely pathways by which it could have travelled to the wider world. </p>
<p>We looked at museum collections, entomological surveys, and veterinary research reports to generate a map of its worldwide distribution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287951/original/file-20190814-136186-1ddmp4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global distribution of <em>H. spiniger</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lougoulos and Contos</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The specimens we found, collected from the late 19th century to the present day, showed that this species is found on every continent except Europe and Antarctica.</p>
<p>But in Australia, we couldn’t find a single verifiable instance of the parasite living on dingoes. The only cases were from agile wallabies and domestic dogs.</p>
<p>That meant the prevailing wisdom had been wrong, and we had to look elsewhere for the origins of <em>H. spiniger</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287954/original/file-20190814-136176-5rt7e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t blame the dingoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blanka Berankova/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where did it really come from?</h2>
<p>Although marsupials are best known from Australia, they are also found in other parts of the surrounding region. The agile wallaby is <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/40560/21954106">also native to the island of New Guinea</a>, which was once joined with Australia.</p>
<p>Dogs have also been in New Guinea for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.3487">at least as long</a> as the dingo has been in Australia. Traditionally, dogs were kept in Papuan villages, and were used to hunt game, including wallabies.</p>
<p>It came as little surprise, then, that we found <em>H. spiniger</em> on both agile wallabies and native dogs in New Guinea – and only a few decades after the first ever identification of the species.</p>
<p>So here was a more likely place in which the first transfer from wallaby to dog took place. But who took them out of New Guinea and into the wider world? </p>
<h2>Austronesian voyagers</h2>
<p>New Guinea was first colonised by humans around the same time as Australia. But since that time, compared with Australia it has had notably stronger connections with the outside world, reaching back millennia before European colonisation of Australia in 1788. </p>
<p>Around 4,000 years ago, agriculturalists known as Austronesians sailed out of Taiwan to settle several archipelagos in Oceania. With them they brought domestic species of plants and animals, including dogs.</p>
<p>By 3,000 years ago, at the latest, they <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0134497">reached New Guinea</a>. We suggest this was the crucial moment when dogs first picked up <em>H. spiniger</em>.</p>
<p>In the ensuing centuries, Austronesians went on to settle much of Indonesia, the Philippines, Melanesia and Polynesia, and coastal sections of mainland Southeast Asia. </p>
<p>They even settled as far as Madagascar, suggesting their voyages probably took them around the rim of the Indian Ocean, along the margins of India and the Middle East. </p>
<p>Dogs accompanying the migrants probably helped spread the louse, which is found almost everywhere they went. </p>
<p>This spans an enormous distance – from Hawaii to Madagascar – a testament to the ancient Austronesians’ supreme seafaring skills.</p>
<h2>New directions</h2>
<p>Our research suggests how the parasite first got around the world, but not precisely when. Its journey probably progressed at different times in different places.</p>
<p>The Austronesian diaspora established <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03122417.2008.11681877">trade routes between the places they settled</a>, some of which spanned impressive distances across several island groups.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-to-australia-more-than-50-000-years-ago-96118">How to get to Australia ... more than 50,000 years ago</a>
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<p>Later, foreign traders connected these communities with greater Asia and Africa. And in modern times, dogs continue to be transported as desirable goods themselves. </p>
<p>Trade and contact has probably led to further, possibly ongoing, dispersal of <em>H. spiniger</em>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately there are no archaeological examples that could demonstrate the louse’s early presence outside New Guinea, because this species prefers hot, humid environments.</p>
<p>A genetic approach is a better way forward. A start would be testing specimens from different parts of the world, to see when different regional populations – if they exist - branched off from one another.</p>
<p>This is particularly important in tracking its spread to the Americas, which likely occurred in recent centuries alongside European colonisation. </p>
<p>This research will help us further understand how migration, contact and trade unfolded in the prehistoric Asia-Pacific region, and how it affected the animal species – including the humblest of parasites – we see there today.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This paper would not have been possible without the contributions of Peter Contos, the work of volunteers on the Natural History Museum’s Boopidae of Australasia digitisation project, and the contributions of the public to Wikipedia Creative Commons, for which we are grateful.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loukas Koungoulos receives support from an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship, and funding from the Carlyle-Greenwell Research Fund (University of Sydney).</span></em></p>Reconsidering an old ecological conundrum comes up with a new perspective on migration, contact and trade in the Australia and Asia-Pacific region.Loukas Koungoulos, PhD Candidate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181242019-07-17T23:19:09Z2019-07-17T23:19:09ZDog owners could take the lead on dingo conservation with a ‘Fido fund’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279075/original/file-20190612-32331-isyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C3229%2C2152&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dingo puppers. A small levy on dog costs could help create more ethical management of dingoes. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans and dogs go way back. From <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1217728.Wolf_Totem">wolf totems</a> to the big bad wolf of fact and fairy tale, through sheepdogs, lap dogs, and labradoodles, our relationships with these animals are complex, emotionally charged and sometimes contradictory. </p>
<p>The split between humanity’s lavishing of affection on domestic dogs and our contrasting animosity towards their wild relatives is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534716300404">well-documented</a>. But what of domestic dogs and dingoes? </p>
<p>Our research, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR19030">published today</a>, found similarly contrasting relationships in Australia, where the dingo, Australia’s native dog, is frequently killed for management. We suggest that an inexpensive “dingo conservation levy” on domestic dog costs could fund more ethical management of dingoes. In this way our affection for domestic dogs could be harnessed to improve conservation outcomes for their wild relatives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279079/original/file-20190612-32342-xkw62b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes have an ecotourism appeal in places like K'gari (Fraser Island)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canine economics</h2>
<p>Australians collectively spend over A$10 billion each year on their domestic dogs – housing, feeding, and sometimes even giving them the status of honorary family members. Meanwhile, government and landowners jointly spend at least A$30 million on large-scale exclusion fencing and lethal control of dingoes. </p>
<p>Industry funded research suggests that dingoes killing livestock, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/avj.12075">especially sheep</a>, and <a href="https://www.pestsmart.org.au/managing-the-impacts-of-dingoes-and-other-wild-dogs/">efforts to control dingoes, cost</a> at least A$145 million annually. What’s more, such losses also come with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14486563.2016.1251346">psychological stress</a>, which you can’t always put a price on.</p>
<p>Other research suggests dingoes, as top predators, provide considerable economic benefits. For example, dingoes prey upon kangaroos and other herbivores that may <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352249614000068">compete with livestock for food and water</a>. In fact, some estimates suggest <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2664.12378">dingoes improve gross margins</a> by $0.83 per hectare in this context. </p>
<p>They also <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x">help biodiversity</a> by suppressing feral cats and foxes, and dingoes have considerable ecotourism appeal in locations like <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=16UWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139&dq=dingo+fraser+island+ecotourism+chapter+9&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE-5HyweDiAhXXfX0KHRGUC-0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=dingo%20fraser%20island%20ecotourism%20chapter%209&f=false">K’gari (Fraser Island)</a> and Kakadu National Park.</p>
<h2>Managing dingoes</h2>
<p>Australia’s current approach to dingo management highlights the paradox of an animal viewed both as a valuable native predator that should be conserved, and as a pest to be destroyed. And this makes it a nightmare to manage.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279083/original/file-20190612-32317-122hph9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dingo fence stretches for thousands of kilometres in the Australian outback to try to keep dingoes away from sheep and livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Current dingo management relies heavily on exclusion fencing and lethal control, and <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pdf/PC17006">around 200kg of 1080 powder (poison)</a> is administered to baits and peppered across the continent annually. </p>
<p>Countless bullets are also fired, and traps set, as the lion’s share of management budgets is allocated to business as usual. To break this deadly cycle, there is a clear need to provide farmers and governments with good evidence that different approaches could work. This can only be done through substantial parallel investment in robust, independent experimental tests of alternative approaches. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3784098?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">broad support in society for non-lethal management</a>, accessing sufficient funds to support such a transition remains challenging. </p>
<p>A modest dingo conservation levy could fund this. With a levy on the A$10 billion domestic dog industry, we could harness humanity’s affinity for domestic dogs to improve conservation and welfare outcomes for their wild counterparts. </p>
<p>It wouldn’t need to be prohibitively expensive either. </p>
<p>A levy on the sale of pet dogs, dog food, or both, of only about 0.3% of the amount that pet owners spend on this annually – or A$7.36 per dog – would generate A$30 million each year. </p>
<p>That is similar to the lowest estimates of current national spending on dingo control, which means we would potentially see the current spending doubled. </p>
<h2>Why should dog owners pick up the tab?</h2>
<p>Applying a levy to all dog owners may seem unfair, and perhaps it is. But as Australia’s “dingo problem” is, arguably, at least in part caused by <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12134/abstract">domestic dogs gone feral</a>, such a levy would seem no more unfair on conscientious dog owners than third-party insurance is on careful drivers. </p>
<p>Given that pet owners tend to view wild animals <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303710X12627079939107">more positively</a> and show more concern for <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248334878_Pet_ownership_in_childhood_its_influence_on_attitudes_towards_animals">their welfare</a>, such a levy might actually be well received by dog-owners anyway. </p>
<p>An alternative approach might be to seek the voluntary involvement of pet-food manufacturers in such a scheme, giving consumers choice over whether to support it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279080/original/file-20190612-32331-1lsv6dg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dog-lovers generally also love wild animals, and may be happy to pick up the costs for ethical dingo conservation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A dingo conservation levy – perhaps supplemented by a voluntary fund for donors without dogs – might also be more acceptable and attractive if it were clear the funds would be specifically channelled towards research and uptake of non-lethal tools. </p>
<p>Generally, we are broadly in favour of any techniques designed to reduce the animosity towards dingoes, reduce the costs and negative impacts of living alongside them, and boost the positive effects dingoes have on ecosystems. </p>
<p>As some have already argued, they are all dogs at the end of the day. Perhaps then it is time that we treated them as such.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>We would like to gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Mike Letnic, Henry Brink, Brad Purcell and Hugh Webster to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil R Jordan receives funding from The Hermon Slade Foundation, Natural Selection Conservation Trust, and Taronga Conservation Society Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Appleby is a co-director of a wildlife and conservation technology company, that might benefit from funding received as a result of this article. This company has previously received funding from a state government agency in Queensland. </span></em></p>A small surcharge on dog food could massively improve conservation for Australia’s native dingos and wild dogs.Neil R Jordan, Lecturer, UNSW SydneyRob Appleby, PhD student at the Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1159172019-04-29T04:30:12Z2019-04-29T04:30:12ZDingoes and humans were once friends. Separating them could be why they attack<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271371/original/file-20190429-194630-g4xwba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C5607%2C3699&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dingoes on K'Gari are the most genetically 'pure' in Australia.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Two small children were hospitalised in recent weeks after being attacked by dingoes on K'gari (Fraser Island).</p>
<p>The latest attack involved a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/19/toddler-rescued-after-dingo-drags-him-from-fraser-island-campsite">14-month-old</a> boy who was dragged from his family campervan by dingoes, an incident that could have ended with much more serious consequences than the injuries he sustained.</p>
<p>Fraser Island, famous for its wild dingo population, was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-24/fraser-islands-national-park-renamed-kgari-paradise-aboriginal/8460808">renamed</a> K'Gari in 2017. And the number of tourists involved in negative interactions with dingoes appears to <a href="https://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/qpws-reveals-dingo-incidents-on-the-rise-at-fraser/3168428/">be increasing</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-dingoes-attack-people-and-how-can-we-prevent-it-100515">Why do dingoes attack people, and how can we prevent it?</a>
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<p>The dingo, a wild dog of the <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/natural-history/Spirit-of-the-Wild-Dog-Lesley-J-Rogers-and-Gisela-Kaplan-9781865086736"><em>Canis</em></a> genus, were likely <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/">brought to Australia</a> by Asian seafarers around 4,000 years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Dingoes can be terrifying – but not when they’re puppies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>While dingoes exist in many parts of Australia today, those on K’gari are thought to be “special” because of their <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2011/03/genetically-pure-dingoes-face-extinction/">genetic purity</a>. This means they have not interbred with wild and domestic dogs to the same extent mainland dingoes have, and so are considered the purest bred dingoes in Australia.</p>
<p>They are legally protected because of this special status, and because they live in a national park and World Heritage Area. Unfortunately, it is precisely this protection and separation from humans that has driven much of the increase in interaction and aggression towards people.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">Like cats and dogs: dingoes can keep feral cats in check</a>
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<p>This ongoing human-dingo conflict on K’Gari shows how our laws and management practices can actually increase negative encounters with wildlife when they don’t consider the history, ecology and social circumstances of the conflict area. </p>
<h2>Law and policy ‘naturalised’ dingoes</h2>
<p>The island’s laws and policies, such as the international <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/">World Heritage Convention</a> and the more local Fraser Island <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy</a>, are focused on conserving a particular human idea of “natural wilderness”. </p>
<p>In practice, this means the management policy focuses on “naturalising” the dingo by effectively separating them from people and the sources of food they bring. </p>
<p>But dingoes, although wild animals, have never effectively been naturalised on K’Gari, so our attempts to maintain their “natural” and “wild” status is not entirely accurate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">K'Gari (Fraser Island) is the largest sand island in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dingoes have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718517302312">long history</a> of being close with Aboriginal people. This human-dingo relationship continued as the island was used for mining and logging, as employees also lived with dingoes. They were fed by people, scavenged scraps from rubbish tips, and fed on leftover fish offal. </p>
<p>It is only in the last few decades we have sought to rewild dingoes by removing all forms of human-sourced food, separating them from human settlement.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/living-blanket-water-diviner-wild-pet-a-cultural-history-of-the-dingo-80189">Living blanket, water diviner, wild pet: a cultural history of the dingo</a>
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<p>Separating the animals from humans won’t work, however, when more than <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">400,000 tourists</a> visit K’Gari every year, expecting to see a dingo. </p>
<p>International law and local management prioritise tourism, and a tourism-based economy is certainly preferable to the logging and sand-mining economies that existed before the national park was given World Heritage status in 1992. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Be dingo safe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But are such large visitor numbers in a relatively small space sustainable? </p>
<p>This question has been asked <a href="http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/usc:17598">often</a>, including by the Queensland government in their <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/managing/plans-strategies/pdf/strategy-3.pdf">Great Sandy Region Management Plan</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, there has been no serious consideration given to reducing tourist numbers or increasing fees, despite <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5367/te.2014.0388?journalCode=teua&">research suggesting</a> visitors are willing to sacrifice some access for improved environmental outcomes and less crowding. </p>
<p>Such proposals have been specifically rejected by decision-makers within the <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">Dingo Management Plan</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-do-bark-why-most-dingo-facts-you-think-you-know-are-wrong-68816">Dingoes do bark: why most dingo facts you think you know are wrong</a>
</strong>
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<hr>
<h2>So where does that leave us?</h2>
<p>We essentially have three options: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>if we wish to stick with the policy of dingo naturalisation and human separation, we must change our attitudes and values towards dingoes so people maintain an appropriate distance and do not inadvertently feed them. This can happen with education, fines and collaboration. While this is essentially what policies have attempted so far, there has been little effect on overall incident numbers</p></li>
<li><p>we can take the naturalisation policy to its expected endpoint and completely separate tourists and dingoes. This may mean more fencing, greater fines and fewer annual visitors so rangers can educate and manage all visitors effectively</p></li>
<li><p>we can drastically reevaluate how we value wildlife and how we place ourselves within the natural world. This would see an enormous overhaul of the regulatory framework, and would also require a deeper understanding of all the causes of conflict, other than just the immediate issue of tourism, habituation and feeding. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>In practice, an effective dingo management policy would probably require a combination of all three options to maintain the pristine state of K’Gari, conserve the dingo population and improve human safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Woolaston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Management practices that don’t consider the history, ecology and social circumstances of dingo populations help drive their aggression towards people.Katie Woolaston, Lawyer, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1147482019-04-04T05:41:55Z2019-04-04T05:41:55ZLike cats and dogs: dingoes can keep feral cats in check<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267262/original/file-20190403-177175-6uzk99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feral cats are linked to the extinction of at least 20 Australian mammals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/feral-cats-live-abandoned-farmhouse-1071068639">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The role of dingoes in the Australian landscape is highly debated between ecologists, conservationists and graziers. They kill livestock, but also hunt introduced animals and keep kangaroo populations in check. </p>
<p>Now new research sheds more light on the benefits dingoes bring to the outback. For the first time, our research clearly shows that dingoes suppress feral cat numbers.</p>
<p>Our research, published recently in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-019-00360-2">Ecosystems</a>, used the world’s largest fence to compare essentially identical environments with and without dingoes. Over the course of the six-year study, dingoes drove down cat numbers – and kept them down. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-hidden-toll-australias-cats-kill-almost-650-million-reptiles-a-year-98854">A hidden toll: Australia's cats kill almost 650 million reptiles a year</a>
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<h2>Feral cats are out of control</h2>
<p>Feral cats are a serious conservation threat. They have been linked to the extinction of at least 20 mammal species in Australia and threaten the ongoing survival of more than 100 native species. </p>
<p>For our study, we asked whether “top-down” pressure from dingoes (through direct killing and competition for food) had a greater influence on controlling cat numbers than “bottom-up” effects (the availability of shared food sources preyed on by cats).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267264/original/file-20190403-177163-1vtb2ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes drive down the population of introduced animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thegirlsny/2755783027/in/photolist-5cw7ht-4rE86w-BKc3Vn-6qhoDq-65oPbq-N7zCr-sdEWPU-2KKfrg-7fRF3S-cAoVUS-bGa7Bz-Xrcw6K-8gZeT2-bw9fFH-eD2Ld-3ickXf-6qhoA5-bujTzC-84i14b-6dBBah-3icgkq-WcNayn-fFmX5B-ukJfbU-hKJPR-WfpuEo-76wKmd-4Qcqie-8xaoAr-VB7J2c-2YhaA-48hw6c-86q6qJ-2deq7nz-a6NnD-WM69zu-6qhoKo-f3ZmHs-dkQFzK-C2rGL-5FEgB5-HHx9mz-4fJQUH-bfsRiP-3i7MTM-qXqCPR-ckf24Q-BSb9fL-4qsyQA-VB8bJR">Kim/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We conducted our study by comparing the numbers of dingoes, cats and their major prey species on either side of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-move-the-worlds-longest-fence-to-settle-the-dingo-debate-37155">dingo fence</a> in the Strzelecki Desert. The fence runs along the borders of New South Wales and South Australia and was originally built to exclude dingoes from sheep grazing lands in NSW. </p>
<p>The state border follows the longitude line 141 east, so the fence does not demarcate any natural boundary. It simply cuts a straight line through sand dunes with similar landforms and vegetation on either side. Thus the dingo fence provides a unique opportunity to study apex predators’ effects on ecosystems: dingoes are common on the SA side, “outside” the fence, whereas on the NSW “inside” of the fence, dingoes are rare due to intensive persecution by humans.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-move-the-worlds-longest-fence-to-settle-the-dingo-debate-37155">Let's move the world's longest fence to settle the dingo debate</a>
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<p>We collected data from sites on either side of the fence in the Strzelecki Desert, at roughly four-month intervals between 2011 and 2017. Dingo and cat scat was collected at each site, to analyse and compare diets, and spotlight searches were used to record numbers of dingoes, feral cats, as well as two of their common shared food sources: rabbits and hopping mice.</p>
<p>Spotlight surveys revealed dingoes to be virtually absent from study areas inside the fence, with only four dingoes recorded during the study. Where dingoes were rare inside the fence, cat numbers closely followed fluctuations of their prey species consistently over the six-year span of our study. As prey numbers increased, cat numbers also increased, and similarly as prey numbers declined, cat numbers also declined.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267266/original/file-20190403-177199-1ccgie1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A feral cat in outback Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/feral-cat-outback-australia-685502620">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Outside the fence, where dingoes were common, it was quite a different story. There, cat numbers were consistently lower, with numbers of both cats and dingoes following fluctuations in prey numbers across the first two years of the study. However, from 2013 onward, dingo numbers remained high and matched trends in their prey numbers for the remainder of the study.</p>
<p>During this time, cat numbers remained low, and by the end of 2015, cats had virtually disappeared from our study sites outside the fence and were not recorded during spotlight surveys between November 2015 and the end of our study in July 2017.</p>
<p>The most likely explanation for this drastic reduction in cat populations is through interference competition – either by dingoes killing some cats or by scaring others away from habitats in which they would usually hunt. Indeed, we occasionally found cat remains in dingo scats, which suggests dingoes prey on cats. </p>
<p>Although our scat analyses indicated that dingoes and cats eat similar foods, there was no evidence that competition for food was a major factor in how dingoes reduce cat populations. This is because prey were plentiful outside the fence, where dingoes were common and cats were rare.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-graziers-want-to-retain-not-kill-dingoes-77457">Why do some graziers want to retain, not kill, dingoes?</a>
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<p>This research show how dingoes can help conservation efforts by suppressing feral cat populations. It adds to previous work showing dingoes are important in maintaining healthy ecosystems, as they reduce and eradicate feral herbivores like pigs and goats, and stop kangaroos from overpopulating districts.</p>
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<p><em>This article was updated on April 5 to credit Ben Feit as a co-author.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Letnic receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Feit does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dingoes help conservation efforts by controlling the population of feral cats.Mike Letnic, Professor, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW SydneyBen Feit, Post-doctoral researcherLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.