Lexi Webster
Dingoes, Australia's largest native apex species, are an integral part of the country's ecosystem and hold cultural significance for First Nations peoples. However, they are also often seen as a threat to livestock, leading to conflicting perspectives on their protection. While some states in Australia, like Victoria, recognise dingoes as a threatened species and offer varying degrees of protection, others, like Western Australia, do not afford them any legal protection, even in conservation areas. This has sparked debates and efforts to change dingo policies and secure their protection in Western Australia.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Status in Western Australia | Dingoes are considered unprotected wildlife and a declared pest in Western Australia. They are not recognised as native fauna and are often classified as wild dogs. |
| Conservation Efforts | There are calls for legal protection of dingoes in Western Australia, including outlawing baiting, trapping, shooting, and culling. Some advocate for the establishment of dingo sanctuary areas to protect their genetic purity. |
| Ecological Role | Dingoes are Australia's largest land-based predator and play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. They help control smaller predator populations and are considered ecologically essential by some. |
| Cultural Significance | Dingoes hold cultural significance for First Nations peoples and feature in Dreamtime stories, ceremonies, rock carvings, and cave paintings. They are also a tourist attraction. |
| Hybridisation | Recent DNA research suggests that dingo-dog hybrids are rare, and most wild dingoes have little to no dog ancestry. |
| Eradication Efforts | Dingoes are often targeted for eradication near farmland due to their perceived threat to livestock. They are subject to cruel killing programs, including poisoning and trapping, which has led to concerns about their population decline. |
| Government Action | The Western Australian government has classified dingoes as non-native wild dogs, allowing them to be trapped or killed without permission. Victoria is the only state with legal protection for dingoes, but even there, some areas have )"unprotection orders" in place. |
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What You'll Learn
Dingoes are unprotected wildlife in Western Australia
Dingoes are considered unprotected wildlife in Western Australia, despite their ecological importance and cultural significance to First Nations peoples. This classification as "wild dogs" means they can be trapped or killed without permission, even in conservation areas and on private land.
The perception of dingoes as pests stems from concerns about livestock predation, which has led to their eradication from farming areas. However, recent studies have shown that the high rate of lamb mortalities is primarily due to farming practices rather than dingo attacks. Additionally, dingoes are native to Australia and play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem by suppressing feral pest populations and controlling smaller predators.
In contrast to Western Australia, dingoes are listed as threatened and protected in certain areas of Victoria. While Victoria initially declared dingoes “unprotected" on private land and near farmland, this order was dissolved in late 2023, and the state now offers partial protection to vulnerable dingo populations. The differing approaches to dingo protection in Victoria and Western Australia highlight the complex status of these native predators.
The classification of dingoes as unprotected in Western Australia has sparked calls for policy changes. Scientists, conservationists, and First Nations peoples advocate for recognizing dingoes as a vulnerable or endangered species, legally protecting them, and establishing dingo sanctuary areas. These proposed measures aim to protect the genetic purity of dingoes and preserve their ecological and cultural significance.
While some consider dingoes pests, others view them as ecologically essential. The debate surrounding dingo protection in Western Australia underscores the need to reconsider our relationship with these native predators and explore ways to coexist harmoniously through collaboration between Indigenous and Western knowledge systems.
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The dingo's cultural significance for First Nations peoples
Dingoes are a sacred animal to many First Nations people across Australia. They are considered family and hold significant spiritual significance, forming an important part of Indigenous totems, Dreaming, lore/law, and customs. They are a regular feature in storytelling, rituals, ceremonies, art, songs, and dances.
Dingoes are believed to have greatly extended women's contributions to the traditional economy and food supply. In traditional Aboriginal society, women travelled with canine companions draped around their waists like garments of clothing. They provided hunting assistance, a living blanket, and guarded against intruders. Dingo pups would be taken from the wild at a young age and grown up in the company of women and children.
Dingoes are also a vital connection to Country for First Nations people. They mapped ancestral songlines across the continent, formed lands, waterways, and constellations, and are essential to keeping storylines, customs, and cultures alive. They are considered bosses of Country and are believed to ensure that natural systems remain in balance.
Dingoes have many names in Indigenous Australian culture, depending on language and Country. They are also depicted in rock art at a number of sites, including the Wollemi wilderness area and the Burrup Peninsula.
Despite their cultural significance, dingoes are unprotected wildlife in Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and New South Wales. They are considered pests and are subject to eradication policies, with governments listing them as a priority pest species. This has led to scientists, conservationists, and First Nations peoples calling for a change in dingo policies, advocating for non-lethal management, and legal protection of dingoes as a vulnerable/endangered species.
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The classification of dingoes as non-native wild dogs
Dingoes are classified as non-native wild dogs in Western Australia. They are currently classed as unprotected native fauna and declared pests, which means they can be trapped or killed without permission in many places. However, widespread reforms to WA's Biodiversity Conservation Act are expected to list them as non-fauna. This means that dingoes can be killed anywhere in the state.
Dingoes are considered vital to the ecosystem and play a complex but positive role for native wildlife in the Simpson Desert. They are Australia's largest land-based predator and help maintain healthy ecosystems by regulating the populations of species such as kangaroos, rabbits, foxes, and cats, naturally promoting ecosystem balance. They also hold deep cultural significance for First Nations peoples and feature in Dreamtime stories and ceremonies, on rock carvings, and cave paintings.
Despite their importance, dingoes have been trapped, shot, poisoned, and excluded from large parts of their country since colonisation. They are considered pests by some and are often targeted in dog baiting programs. The decision to maintain their classification as non-native wild dogs under reform to Western Australian law has been met with criticism, with conservationists and First Nations peoples calling for changes to dingo policies to protect their populations.
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The impact of dingoes on livestock and farming practices
Dingoes are Australia's largest mammal carnivore, although they occasionally eat fruits, plants, and seeds. They are highly adaptable and opportunistic hunters, hunting mainly at dawn, dusk, and during the night. Their primary food sources include wombats, kangaroos, and wallabies, but they also consume birds, reptiles, fruits, insects, and feral livestock such as goats and pigs.
Dingoes have been killed due to conflicts with the livestock industry for over 200 years in Australia. Since European colonization, there has been a fear of predation of livestock, leading to continued efforts to eradicate dingoes from farming areas, particularly in New South Wales, Victoria, south-east South Australia, and south-west Western Australia. Dingoes are widely considered a major threat to the production of small stock, especially sheep, and lethal control is almost always used when dingoes and sheep coexist. Cattle producers may be less concerned as dingoes pose little threat to adult cows, although they can impact calves.
To protect livestock, lethal control methods have been employed, including poisoning, shooting, trapping, and destroying dingo pups in their dens. In Victoria, an Order in Council unprotects dingoes in certain circumstances to protect livestock. The Victorian Government has also undertaken a comprehensive assessment of Victoria's dingo population to guide management practices that balance the protection of livestock and dingo conservation.
However, the persecution of dingoes negatively impacts not only them but also other wildlife, such as eagles that eat poisoned bait or wallabies trapped in leg hold traps. There is also increasing pressure from environmentalists against the random killing of dingoes and the impact on other animals. Some farmers have voluntarily adopted non-lethal management methods, such as using livestock guardian animals, improved animal husbandry, deterrents, and providing extra supervision during lambing and calving seasons. These methods can keep livestock and wildlife safe while also benefiting from the role dingoes play in controlling feral livestock and other introduced animals, thereby maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Predator Smart Farming is a suggested approach to foster coexistence with dingoes and reduce conflict. This involves holistic and integrated management of livestock, land, and livelihoods, with some producers reporting better financial outcomes and improved pasture management.
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Efforts to conserve and protect dingoes in Western Australia
Dingoes are native to Australia and have a unique evolutionary history, descending from Asian canids and closely related to the New Guinea singing dog. They have survived in Australia for thousands of years and hold significant cultural importance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Despite this, dingoes are currently unprotected in Western Australia, where they are killed alongside wild dogs and hybrids. This is due to their classification as a pest and the fear of predation of livestock.
There are ongoing efforts to conserve and protect dingoes in Western Australia, recognising their ecological importance and cultural significance. One such initiative is the Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, which is home to a dingo sanctuary in Perth, Western Australia. The centre provides a safe space for Pilbara and Alpine dingoes and offers educational encounters with these animals.
Advocacy groups are also campaigning for the legal protection of dingoes in Western Australia, highlighting their vulnerability and potential endangered status. They are urging the government to outlaw harmful practices such as baiting, trapping, shooting, or culling of dingoes. Additionally, they are promoting the establishment of dingo sanctuary areas that exclude domestic dogs to protect the genetic purity of dingoes.
In Victoria, dingoes are recognised as a threatened species and are protected on public land, with certain restrictions in place to balance the protection of livestock. This includes guidelines for managing Victoria's dingo population and specific unprotection orders that allow for lethal control of dingoes on private land within specified zones.
To effectively conserve and protect dingoes in Western Australia, it is essential to address the conflicting interests of various stakeholders. This includes recognising the concerns of farmers and landowners regarding livestock protection while also acknowledging the ecological and cultural significance of dingoes. Implementing humane controls, such as guardian animals and dingo deterrents, can help strike a balance between protecting farm animals and conserving dingoes.
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Frequently asked questions
No, dingoes are not protected in Western Australia. They are considered ""unprotected native fauna" and a declared pest, and can be trapped or killed without permission.
Dingoes are not protected in Western Australia because they are considered wild dogs and not native to the country. They are also blamed for the deaths of farmed animals, especially lambs.
Dingoes are protected in Victoria as a threatened native species. However, they are declared "unprotected" in certain parts of the state, on private land, and in buffer zones extending three kilometres inside national parks that adjoin farmland.
There is a small dingo sanctuary in Perth, Western Australia, called Kaarakin, which is home to Pilbara and Alpine dingoes. Some scientists, conservationists, and First Nations peoples are also calling on state governments to change dingo policies.
