Ecology
and diet
Dingoes are opportunistic carnivores and
have a broad diet. Their consumption of carrion significantly aids the natural
ecology.
In remote areas, Dingoes form stable packs
of anything from 3-12 individuals that collectively occupy a territory. The territory
size of a pack varies with habitat and the availability of prey. Most dingoes
remain close to their area of birth, but young males can disperse tens and even
hundreds of kilometres.
The diet of dingoes varies according to
prey abundance and availability; prey ranges in size from mice to buffalo.
Kangaroos are also an important prey item. Dingoes prey heavily on rabbits
where they are present and also suppress feral pigs, goats and foxes.
There is
evidence that dingoes suppress the abundance and/ or activity of feral cats,
which benefits native animals threatened by cat predation.
They mostly hunt alone or sometimes in
pairs and form hunting packs when hunting on larger prey.
Their natural diet is kangaroo, wallaby,
rabbit, reptiles, insects, possum, wombat, birds, eggs, fox, goat, pig and
buffalo. Aquatic life if available.
Dingoes are generalist predators as,
although they prey primarily upon mammals, they will readily switch their diet
according to prey availability.
When they are abundant, rabbits, macropods and vombatids are important prey items, along with fruits and grasses.
But Dingoes also prey heavily on rodents, water birds and will kill and catch foxes, cats, lizards, birds, goats and pigs.
Information reproduced with permission from http://jennyleeparker3.wixsite.com/aussie-canis-dingo
Seems we know little about balancing our ecology. Importing rabbits and foxes to satisfy hunting needs. Ooops! Then, vilifying and destroying through ignorance, a natural predator when the 'guests' became pests. There are hours of thought provoking reading in your posts! :) george
ReplyDeleteThank you George. It is a sad fact that Australia has the highest number of extinct and endangered mammals in the world. Many could have been saved if we hadn't declared war on the dingo and imported so many European animals.
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