Dingo conservation

S

Solo

New Member
Hello! Thought this would be a good place to ask...do any of you work or volunteer at US zoos with an interest in Australian dingo conservation?
There seems to be very few of them in the States--and with their situation overseas, I'm hoping some of the US zoos will step up and try to preserve the purebred dingoes.

I was recently given an amazing male Alpine dingo (along with some others) who I would like to donate to either a smallish, hands-on zoo or extremely dedicated private owner--someone interested in education/outreach, and perhaps eventually in giving him an unrelated female, as part of a good program. He could also go out with a spayed female pup, for companionship. The male is very social himself, but the pup is off the charts and would be an amazing ambassador.
They require *exceptional* containment, of course, and can't be tossed in with other species. They enjoy walks and petting; they'd be unhappy in a hands-off cage. However, a good handler could take these guys around the zoo, let them give kisses to kids and give a short talk about the plight of dingoes in the wild...

A zoo with New Guinea Singing dogs would be a great match, as they are a geographic variation of the same subspecies--it's neat to see the similarities and differences. These dingoes are the black & tan variety so would stand out against the NGSD. They are second-generation captive born, but the parents came from a DNA-tested line & pedigree info is available.

Thoughts? These kids are safe and loved where they are, but I know there are people out there who would really appreciate having them...and it would be nice if they got to meet lots of people and had a "job", educating for their kind.
 
Dingoes/dogs are a relatively recent arrival down here. Are they really an indigenous species? If yes, then what other exotics should we also consider as "indigenous? Cats?

Cheers Khakibob
 
Challenge accepted. :-)

While Europeans and their livestock have only been in Oz for about 200 years (the true "invasive species", from an ecological standpoint), dingoes have been there for at least 4000 to 6000 years. Personally, I'm guessing even longer, as they have strong ties to the New Guinea Singers (also C. lupus dingo) and the land bridge went under between Australia and New Guinea 6 to 8 thousand years ago. However, it would definitely be less than 10,000 or so, since there have never been dingoes in Tasmania and that's when it was isolated.
The Aboriginals have managed to live successfully with them for thousands of years. The marsupial species, who have been there longer, have adapted to the dingoes as well. I think once an animal has come into balance with the rest of the system, as the dingoes have done, the definition of "native" becomes simply a matter of semantics at that point. Is there a meaningful difference between 6000 and 12,000 years, in terms of what it means to be native? If not, by some folks' definition, all the species who came across the Bering land bridge (including us!) are not "native" to North America.

Like it or not, he IS your apex predator. Dingoes are a keystone species, and numerous studies have been done on his value in protecting Australia's biodiversity. His natural prey--kangaroos, wallabies, cats, and foxes (the latter two of which truly ARE invasive species) need to be kept in check, else you lose the balance that allows various vegetation and small marsupials to flourish.

I know the wild ones are a horrible nuisance and a financial drain on farmers (although, arguably, wild dogs and hybrids have FAR more impact!)--we have coyotes in that role here in the States, so it's easy to see the farmer's side of this. But...when YOU move into the outback or in the bush, you assume responsibility for adapting to it. You build fences, you raise a few livestock guardian dogs, you get llamas or mules. You practice "conditioned taste aversion" (it works on wolves...why not dingoes?) There are ways. You don't just drop thousands of wooly cheeseburgers on the floor and get pissed if the dog eats them. :-/ Maybe you shoot the most troublesome, willful dogs who won't be run off...but you don't dump 1080, try to exterminate an entire species, kill lots of innocent bystander species, and wreak havoc on the environment. There's got to be a middle ground.

My 2 cents. Totally irrelevant to dingoes in zoos *g* but still a discussion worth having, imo.
 
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