# The Dingo: Friend Or Foe



## Mydogkumiho (May 26, 2015)

Friend.

[video=youtube;jwcghHGAF7c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwcghHGAF7c[/video]


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## kingofnobbys (May 27, 2015)

If they kill (free roaming / feral = same in my book) cats and rabbits = friend.


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## Mydogkumiho (May 29, 2015)

Ah, the irony in using domestic dogs to control pig populations, while we slaughter Australian wild dogs.


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## imported_Varanus (May 30, 2015)

Hope you don't mind me posting?. I thought this was interesting.

https://youtu.be/KbbtziC2wW4


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## Chris (May 31, 2015)

imported_Varanus said:


> Hope you don't mind me posting?. I thought this was interesting.
> 
> https://youtu.be/KbbtziC2wW4



That was worth watching, it was good seeing the argument from both sides. Interesting that the native animal population thrives where the dingoes are present due to the absence of foxes & cats, & that dingoes & cattle can co-exist together with little issue (sheep is another story though).


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## imported_Varanus (May 31, 2015)

I also like the idea that, if you don't control a pack, it will stabilise at a viable number (for that environment) with only the alpha pair able to produce pups once a season. If you kill off pack members willy-nilly, all viable females produce every year....do nothing and they self-regulate. Pull the fence down and give all our wildlife a chance, I say, Sheep can be managed in different areas through the use of guard dogs (Maremas) or a change in management practices to suit the local situation. An issue may be interaction with hybrid dogs, which are in some numbers both sides of the Fence, it would seem?


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## Mydogkumiho (May 31, 2015)

[video=youtube;PH0ppQEjgfI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0ppQEjgfI[/video]

Chris, as Arian Wallach stated in the first video I posted, in other countries, animals like goats & sheep co-exist with predators such as lions.

The maremma is always used as an example of a livestock guardian breed, but there are a lot of other guardian breeds suitable for the same job, my personal favourites are the central Asian shepherd, & the kangal.

There is no evidence to suggest hybridization between dingoes & domestic dogs has a negative outcome, natural selection will govern the genes that survive, there really is no basis for condemning dingo/dog hybrids, purity is unidentifiable, it's an arbitrary measure created by humans, for humans, canids hybridize all over the world, I believe we're actually encouraging hybridization through culling.


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## imported_Varanus (May 31, 2015)

Mydogkumiho said:


> There is no evidence to suggest hybridization between dingoes & domestic dogs has a negative outcome, natural selection will govern the genes that survive, there really is no basis for condemning dingo/dog hybrids, purity is unidentifiable, it's an arbitrary measure created by humans, for humans, canids hybridize all over the world, I believe we're actually encouraging hybridization through culling.



I thought there was a blood test you can administer to determine purity? I've been fortunate enough now to have had both and there's no way my hybrid had the flexibility or dexterity of a pure dingo or the same problem solving abilities?? JMO, of course.


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## Bushfire (May 31, 2015)

For me the best presentation I saw on this issue was from the guy that did his PhD on Dingo ecology and wrote a book on it I think. He radio tracked a few packs from the blue mountains area. The DNA from most of these dogs would have people call them hybrids and wanting them destroyed however the radio tracked data would suggest that these dogs are behaving like a prue dingo would be expected too.

I have alot to do on wild dog control over some big NPs where schedule 2 dogs are suppose to occur, most of our efforts are centered around controlling only the dogs that leave the park, those within the core area are left alone. Its these dogs that cause the issues with livestock. To me it isn't ideal however public perception and demands / concerns generally control the management over any scientific research / knowledge.


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## Mydogkumiho (May 31, 2015)

DNA analysis is used to determine the presence of domestic dog DNA, but genetic material can be lost in a single digits worth of generations, & the test doesn't prove whether or not these 'pure' dingoes (who, let's not forget, were the result of hybridization in the beginning) are performing their ecological role any better than dingo hybrids, again, natural selection will dictate how these animals evolve, & there is quite a lot of evidence supporting the theory that wild dingo crosses will either be killed, or regain dingo like characteristics, & behaviour after as little as two generations.

Bushfire, the guy you're talking about is Brad Purcell, documentary here:

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2589671.htm


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## Bushfire (May 31, 2015)

Possibly it was at a AHS meeting. It was a pretty good presentation. Ive seen that program previously and that was good too but not as detailed as it could of been.


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## Mydogkumiho (Jun 3, 2015)

This video is about plants, but there are obvious similarities between plant, & animal 'management'.

[video=youtube;NXNEUkHHzgc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXNEUkHHzgc[/video]


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