Everything about Dingo totally explained
Breed classification
ANKC:
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Group 4 (Hounds) |
ARBA:
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Spitz and Primitive Group |
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Breed standards (external link)
ANKC
The
dingo (
Canis lupus dingo) or
Warrigal, is a type of
Australian canid, probably descended from the
Iranian Wolf (
Canis lupus pallipes). It is commonly described as an Australian wild dog, but isn't restricted to Australia, nor did it originate there. Modern dingoes are found throughout
Southeast Asia, mostly in small pockets of remaining natural forest, and in mainland Australia, particularly in the north. They have features in common with both wolves and modern dogs, and are regarded as more or less unchanged descendants of an early ancestor of modern dogs. The name
dingo comes from the language of the
Eora Aboriginal people, who were the original inhabitants of the
Sydney area. The
New Guinea Singing Dog is also classified as
Canis lupus dingo.
Description
Appearance
Adult dingoes are typically 19–23 inches (48–58 cm) tall at the shoulders, and weigh on average 50–70 pounds (23–32 kg), though specimens weighing 120 pounds (55 kg) have been recorded. Males are larger and heavier than females. Compared to similarly sized domestic dogs, dingoes have longer muzzles, larger
carnassials, longer
canine teeth, and a flatter skull with larger
nuchal lines. The author of the study, Professor Chris Johnson, notes his first-hand observations of native
rufous bettongs being able to thrive when dingoes are present. The rate of decline of ground-living mammals decreases from 50% or more, to just 10% or less, where dingoes are present to control fox and cat populations.
Potential extinction
As a result of interbreeding with dogs introduced by European settlers, the purebred dingo gene pool is in decline. By the early 1990s, about a third of all wild dingoes in the south-east of the continent were dingo/domestic dog crosses, and although the process of interbreeding is less advanced in more remote areas, the extinction of the subspecies in the wild is considered inevitable.
Although protection within Federal National Parks, World Heritage areas, Aboriginal reserves, and the
Australian Capital Territory is available for dingoes, they're at the same time classified as a pest in other areas. Since a lack of country-wide protection means they may be trapped or poisoned in many areas, in conjunction with the hybridisation with domestic dogs the taxon was upgraded from 'Lower Risk/Least Concern' to 'Vulnerable' by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) in 2004.
History
Dingoes were transported from mainland Asia, through South-East Asia to Australia and other parts of the Pacific by Asian seafarers throughout their voyages over the last 5,000 years. Dingos arrived in Australia around 3,500–4,000 years ago, quickly spreading to all parts of the Australian mainland and offshore islands, save for
Tasmania. The dogs were originally kept by some Australian native groups as an emergency food source.
European settlers didn't discover dingoes until the 17th century, and originally dismissed them as feral dogs.
Captain
William Damphier, who wrote of the wild dog in 1699, was the first European to first officially note the dingo.
Dingo populations flourished with the European's introduction of domestic sheep and rabbit the Australian mainland.
[Further Information]
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