LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THE DINGO
Learning to live with the dingo
A watercolour of a dingo, pre-1793, from John Hunter's drawing books. Credit: The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, London
What comes to mind when you think of a dingo? Iconic Australian animal? The Azaria Chamberlain story? Your answer will depend on your own identity. To a farmer, the dingo is an unwelcome, invasive pest. To a conservationist, the dingo is a top predator, a critical component of a balanced ecosystem. Its identity is controversial. The dingo doesn’t often enter the Australian public’s field of view, but our tax dollars contribute to continentwide destruction of this animal, largely through use of baits laced with sodium fluroacetate, or 1080. Bounties are paid for their scalps in some states – the only bounties paid for any native Australian animal today.
Why? Dingoes are very good at killing sheep and Australian livestock producers have battled with the dingo for over 200 years.
Introduced predators are one of the main reasons why Australia has the highest rate of native mammal extinction in the world.
The practices employed have remained largely unchanged throughout this time - we’re the only continent where research on protecting livestock from predators has focused on lethal control, with limited attention given to nonlethal interventions that are used successfully elsewhere.
What’s missing in current research in Australia is an understanding of how people shape the management of dingoes and other wildlife and pests.
These lethal control practices are not without consequences for Australian ecosystems. Dingoes are Australia’s top predator and help to regulate populations of kangaroos as well as introduced predators like foxes.
In my PhD research at the University of Sydney, I investigate how contemporary dingo management came to be and whether it is appropriate. I do this by looking at historical narrativesof farmers and the general public on their attitudes towards current management practices.
46 Bounties are paid for dingo scalps in some regions (Credit - ABC News)
A pack of dingoes gather near Lake McKenzie , Fraser Island (Credit- Trover.com)
