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| Canis dingo |
Earlier this year researchers finally settled a long history of confusion, regarding the taxonomy of Australia's dingo. The species has been labelled with various scientific names to date, from its first of Canis antarcticus given in 1792 , to the more recently used Canis familiaris dingo which classified dingoes as a subspecies of the domestic dog. But now...
"We can also conclusively say that the dingo is a distinctive Australian wild canid or member of the dog family in its own right, separate from dogs or wolves. The appropriate scientific classification is Canis dingo, as they appear not to be descended from wolves, are distinct from dogs and are not a subspecies.” - Dr Mathew Crowther, research leader.
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| Healthy dingo with a nice thick winter coat. |
The important outcome of this research is that a benchmark description of what classifies a dingo has been created. This was done using remains of the purest of dingo samples,from various museum collections.
The ability to distinguish wild canid populations from dingo, dingo x dog, and dog, is a very important one. Policies in different parts of Australia support the conservation of dingoes, and the extermination of dingo/dog crosses due to their impact on livestock.
Long standing myths have been dispelled as a result of the research. Dingo persecutors have often hid behind the thought that pure dingoes are yellow/orange in colour, and therefore any variation to this is fair game. This research has proved that coat coloration is not a defining feature of the dingo, and that pure dingos can in fact be dark, tan, black and tan, white and even the sable coloration of a German Sheppard.
I am always surprised when I see hunting photos etc. of wild canids showing nothing but the benchmark features of a Dingo. If the same person was to display a photo of any other native there would be an outcry, and even subsequent prosecution (you would hope..)
If the argument is that they are not a native species, then how long is it before a species is recognized as one? 3000 to 5000 years is a long time for a species to fine tune and adapt to an environment. And surely enough time for the ecosystems in which they inhabit, to evolve to cope, and by now.. to rely.
Unfortunately I have no doubt Australia's dingoes will continue to be persecuted, as that is what we do with our apex predators in Australia - Great White Sharks, and Saltwater Crocodiles come straight to mind as examples. What would be North Queensland without Crocodiles? sounds over the top, but current policies are heading this way as population growth continues in the north.
Anyway, enough of that, this research is a positive for dingoes....
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| One of my favourite photos, and a lifetime memory. I was recording an aboriginal site during a 50 degree celcius day on an extremely remote waterhole lined with ancient Coolibah trees. This dingo walked right past me, almost dragging itself along like it had no energy to care. It continued to the centre of the drying up waterhole and slumped into the cool water. |
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| Cleaning up a dead beast. There were a total of eleven dingoes in the vicinity of this carcass, lying in the grass with full stomachs. |
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| Six dingoes heading off over the gibber plains after leaving the carcass. |
