"The widespread occurrence of intensive lethal control, particularly aerial baiting, may increase the likelihood of dingo × dog hybridization by fracturing dingo social structures," the researchers write in their paper. The reasons for this could be two-fold, reflecting both the historical effects of European settlement in the region (giving more time for dog genes to mix within dingo populations), but also the impacts of 'wild dog' management policies in Australian states like New South Wales, Victoria, and southern Queensland. While hybridization is indeed occurring in Australia, interbreeding between dingoes and dogs accounts for only a minority of wild canids – with most of the dog introgression evident in the heavily populated southeastern parts of the country. Tests of 5,039 wild dog DNA samples from across Australia found 64 were pure dingos and a further 20 were more than 75 dingo. The findings, partially funded by dingo conservation bodies, also challenge the perception the dingo, Australia's apex terrestrial predator, is becoming extinct in the wild. "Dingoes are a native Australian animal, and many people don't like the idea of using lethal control on native animals." It is an ancient breed of domestic dog that was introduced to Australia, probably by Asian seafarers, about 4,000 years. Conditions for sheep and cattle producers have been challenging over the past few years, with drought, floods, and the. Management of wild dogs is essential for the protection of our valuable livestock industries. "'Wild dog' isn't a scientific term – it's a euphemism," Cairns says. Wild dogs are a threat to South Australia’s sheep and cattle industries, which generated revenue of around 2.7 billion in 2020-21. Removing them from the landscape has seen native grasslands give way to an overabundance of problematic woody shrubs, allowed feral cats and foxes to devour endangered marsupials unchecked, and even changed the shapes of sand dunes. Finally, we recommend that a cost-benefit analysis be performed to evaluate the economic viability of an integrated control strategy.Previous research has demonstrated that most Australians are generally unaware that 'wild dogs' management policies in Australia (such as culling and baiting) also target dingoes in addition to feral dogs of modern, domesticated lineage, and likely because the ambiguous terminology effectively renders dingoes invisible.Īs apex predators, dingoes play a critical role in Australia's environment when allowed to do so. Our modelling focused on the use of baiting, trapping and shooting however, we acknowledge that additional tools may also be applied.
#WILD DOGS AUSTRALIA PLUS#
This objective is only achieved when control is applied to the whole area where wild dogs are currently present within the fence plus an additional buffer of ∼20 km. This study identifies the requirement for addressing extant populations of predators within fenced areas to meet the objective of preventing wild dog expansion. Only when a combination of control techniques is applied on a large scale, intensively and continuously are wild dog numbers effectively controlled. The model results indicate that populations of wild dogs on both sides of the State Barrier Fence are self-sustaining and current control practices are not sufficient to effectively reduce their abundance in the agricultural region. We conducted a management strategy evaluation (MSE) based on spatially-explicit population models to forecast the effects of upgrades to the Western Australian State Barrier Fence and several control scenarios varying in intensity and spatial extent on wild dog populations in southwest Western Australia. In Western Australia, the State Barrier Fence encompasses approximately 260,000 km 2 of predominantly agricultural land, but its effectiveness in preventing wild dogs from entering the agricultural region is difficult to evaluate. Landscape-scale exclusion fencing coupled with lethal techniques is a widely practiced control method. In Australia, wild dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris, Canis lupus dingo, and hybrids) cause economic losses of more than AUD$40 M annually. Large predators can significantly impact livestock industries.
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