DingoMany present-day Australians see the dingo as a threat and a pest to human production systems. An alternative viewpoint, which is more in tune with Indigenous culture, allows others to see the dingo as a means to improve human civilisation. The dingo has thus become trapped between the status of pest animal and totemic creature. This book helps readers to recognise this dichotomy, as a deeper understanding of dingo behaviour is now possible through new technologies which have made it easier to monitor their daily lives. Recent research on genetic structure has indicated that dingo ‘purity’ may be a human construct and the genetic relatedness of wild dingo packs has been analysed for the first time. GPS telemetry and passive camera traps are new technologies that provide unique ways to monitor movements of dingoes, and analyses of their diet indicate that dietary shifts occur during the different biological seasons of dingoes, showing that they have a functional role in Australian landscapes. Dingo brings together more than 50 years of observations to provide a comprehensive portrayal of the life of a dingo. Throughout this book dingoes are compared with other hypercarnivores, such as wolves and African wild dogs, highlighting the similarities between dingoes and other large canid species around the world. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 7 | |
| 15 | |
4 Dingo characteristics and biology | 41 |
5 Hypercarnivory sociality and territory inheritance | 59 |
6 How do dingoes see Australian landscapes? | 69 |
7 The role of a hypercarnivorous predator | 101 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal allometry animals Australian Wildlife Research baiting behaviour Blue Mountains breeding season canids captive dingoes carnivores central Australia coat colour conservation Corbett LK core area coyotes dingo activity dingo control dingo fence dingo movement dingo packs dingo populations dingo predation dingo purity dispersal dog breeds domestic dogs Ecology ecosystems effects epigenetic extraterritorial family Canidae feral dogs Figure Fraser Island genes genetic group genetic purity GPS collars gray wolf habitat home range humans hunting hybrid hybridisation hypercarnivorous identified impact increased individuals interactions Jarrjarr livestock livestock enterprises Macdonald DW male mammals microsatellites motion-sensing cameras movement patterns mtDNA National Park observed pack members phenotypic predation prey species pups pure dingo Queensland red kangaroo reproductive samples scats scent posts scientists sheep showed Sillero-Zubiri skull allometry social systems South Wales swamp wallaby techniques thylacine trapped variation Western Australia whelping wild canids wild dingoes wild dogs wolf C. I. wolves