The Dingo in Australia and AsiaToday the dingo - Australia's native dog - is threatened by extinction and faces conservation problems comparable to those that beset North American wolves and coyotes. In a work of natural history that reveals both the captivating and the harsh faces of the Australian outback, the world's leading expert on dingoes presents what is currently known about their ancestry, biology, behavior, and ecology. Sharing personal observations gleaned from twenty years of research, Laurence K. (Laurie) Corbett introduces the world of the dingo to a wide audience from amateur wildlife enthusiasts to mammalogists. A subspecies of the gray wolf, the dingo (Canis lupus dingo) appears to have been brought to Australia at least three thousand years ago by Asian mariners. Corbett considers the evolution of these animals, their present distribution, and their relations with indigenous people in Asia and Australia. Enhancing his discussion with eight pages of color plates and thirty-four black-and-white illustrations, he then offers information on their identification and habitats and outlines methods for studying them. He explores the gamut of social and chemical communication among dingoes, focusing on patterns fo aggression, dominance, and submission. Corbett speculates on the evolution of dingo society in Australia and describes the social dynamics of the pack in the wild and in captivity. He also covers the dingo's feeding ecology, hunting tactics, and competition with other predators. In conclusion, Corbett examines the problem of crossbreeding among dingoes and domestic breeds and assesses policy options for ensuring the survival of the elusive yellow dog. Laurie Corbett is Principal Research Scientist at the Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Darwin, Australia. |
Contents
PREFACE | 1 |
Asian origin and dual evolutionary pathways | 9 |
CHAPTER | 10 |
Copyright | |
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Aborigines abundance adult dingoes African hunting dogs Alice Springs alpha male animals arid Asia Barkly Tableland behaviour breeding season calf calves canids captive dingoes carcasses cattle central Australia Chapter coat colour Curly Curly's Mob dingo diet dingo numbers dingo packs dingo populations dingo predation dingoes hunting dingoes in Australia domestic dogs dominant female drought dusky rats eaten example faeces feral cats Figure Fortescue River region foxes frequently geese ginger groups habitats heartworm home ranges howl types howling sessions human hybrids indicated infanticide Kakadu National Park Kapalga killed kmē litter living areas long-haired rats low-ranking macropodids magpie geese mammals mating months north-west Australia northern Australia oestrus pack members Plate plateau howls prey species probably pups pure dingoes rabbits radio-tracking recorded red kangaroos regions of Australia scent-posts sheep similar Simpson Desert skull social south-east tactic territories Thailand thylacine Toots trap tropics usually wallabies watering points wild dingoes wolves