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. |
From inside the book
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Page 25
... watering points . Basic equip- ment includes binoculars for moonlit nights , infra - red detec- tors or image intensifiers for dark nights , and a liberal dose of patience . In the heavily forested regions of eastern Australia , focal ...
... watering points . Basic equip- ment includes binoculars for moonlit nights , infra - red detec- tors or image intensifiers for dark nights , and a liberal dose of patience . In the heavily forested regions of eastern Australia , focal ...
Page 90
... water contained in prey without drinking from watering points . Eventually , most dingoes need to return to the edge of the desert where water is more plentiful and rel- atively permanent , as at Alka Seltza . It is then that competi ...
... water contained in prey without drinking from watering points . Eventually , most dingoes need to return to the edge of the desert where water is more plentiful and rel- atively permanent , as at Alka Seltza . It is then that competi ...
Page 135
... watering points for dingoes would have become extremely scarce during drought , so that they probably faced starvation . Under such conditions , the mortality rate was probably high , particularly for pups , including the offspring of ...
... watering points for dingoes would have become extremely scarce during drought , so that they probably faced starvation . Under such conditions , the mortality rate was probably high , particularly for pups , including the offspring of ...
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Common terms and phrases
Aborigines abundance adult dingoes African hunting dogs agile wallabies Alice Springs animals arid Asia Barkly Tableland behaviour breeding season calf calves canids Canis lupus captive dingoes carcasses cattle central Australia Chapter Chorus howls coat colour Curly's Mob dingo diet dingo numbers dingo packs dingo populations dingo predation dingoes hunting dingoes in Australia dingoes living domestic dogs drought dusky rats eaten example faeces Figure Fortescue River region foxes frequently geese ginger groups habitats heartworm Highlands home ranges howl types howling sessions human hybrids indicated infanticide Kakadu National Park Kapalga killed kmĀ² litter living areas long-haired rats macropodids magpie geese mammals mating months movements north-west Australia northern Australia oestrus pack members Plate plateau howls probably pups pure dingoes rabbits radio-tracking recorded red kangaroos regions of Australia scent-posts similar Simpson Desert skull social territories Thailand thylacines Toots trap tropical urinated usually wallabies watering points West Pack wild dingoes wolves