A local advocate wants to tear down the myths about dingoes, and stop their treatment as wild dogs, which she says they are not.
Launched in June last year, the Northern Rivers Dingo Advocacy group hopes to educate people about our local dingoes. Group founder, Solé Herrer, there are too many falsehoods about this ancient canid, whose lineage split very early on from today’s domestic dog.
‘Dingoes are still classed as a pest species by the government and the agriculture industry. They renamed the dingo a “wild dog” and they are not!’, Herrer told The Echo.
Local dingoes to this area are not ginger
Herrer says the local dingoes to this area are not ginger, like the coastal and inland groups. ’Dingoes come in many colours, because they need camouflage in their habitat. The rainforest dingoes are very dark and sometimes tri-coloured, which often leads people to think they are wild dogs, as they look like black kelpies.
‘There is no need to fear them. They are monogamous and family orientated, and they like to stick close to their den. They are a keystone species – one of Australia’s apex predators.’
Many myths
Herrer says there are so many myths surrounding dingoes. ‘They didn’t arrive on a rowboat with Asian sea people – there is no evidence of that. There is, however, evidence of them being here for over 50,000 years. They also can, and do, bark’.
‘They also don’t live in packs like dogs, but in family groups.’ Herrer would like to see predator-friendly, non-lethal management of the local families.
‘They regulate their own population, they are monogamous and only the dominant pair is allowed to breed once a year. They do not like to breed with dogs, and in this area there is a very low percentage of mixing with dogs.’
Herrer says one of the big problems is people breeding them or interbreeding them with dogs for pets or work animals.
‘They are not “designed” to be domestic pets.’
Herrer says she wants to work with others to educate the community about dingoes and their importance in the local ecology.
Solé can be contacted via [email protected].
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