Wild dogs (Canis lupus)

Both dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) originated in Asia where they were present possibly 10 000 to 14 000 years ago and were derived from wolves.  Aboriginal people brought the dingo to Australia approximately 4000 years ago. The dingo never reached Tasmania.Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were brought into Australia by Europeans in 1788 and their release into the wild has continued since.

Wild dogs prey on a variety of animals including mammals, birds and reptiles of all sizes from insects to water buffalo. However, they prefer to eat small and medium-sized mammals when available, including native mice, dunnarts, bandicoots and wallabies. Wild dogs have been implicated in the decline of several species, both historically and in the recent past.

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Wild dog PestSmart Toolkit documents:

Impacts:

• PestSmart Factsheet: Wild dog risks to threatened wildlife (480 kb PDF)
• PestSmart Factsheet: Have you got wild dogs? (425 kb PDF)

Management and control:

• PestSmart: Glovebox Guide for Managing Wild Dogs
• PestSmart Factsheet: Wild dog policy and legislation considerations (430 kb PDF)
• PestSmart Factsheet: Tools and strategies for wild dog management (780 kb PDF)
• PestSmart Factsheet: Distribution of pure dingoes and dingo-dog hybrids in Australia
• PestSmart: IA CRC Product Pipeline (370 kb PDF)
• PestSmart DVD: Introduction to using foot hold traps for the capture of wild dogs and foxes

 

Contributors: PestSmart Toolkit for Wild dogs
Ben Allen, Peter Fleming – NSW Dept of Primary Industries & Invasive Animals CRC

 

This section is currently under construction. Please check back regularly for updates.