We’ve come a long way on behalf of the Dingo.

I know it is a frustrating role trying to gain acceptance and understanding for the Dingo. We still have a very long way to go to have the Dingo recognised as a native of Australia, acknowledged for its important role as the apex predator in maintaining nature’s balance and its character understood and appreciated by everyone. 

The dingo’s image is still far from what we want it to be.

However, the more I read from the past as part of my research for Berenice Walters’ biography the more I appreciate just how far dingo advocates have come.

Here are some examples of what was written about the Dingo in the past.

In the 1950s the following article titled “The Dog That Can't Be Trained - The Australian Dingo” appeared in Airways magazine.

"One may be able to tame a lion or even a panther, but, after three years of patient trying, a group of Dutch animal lovers have still failed to domesticate Australia's wild dog - the dingo.

"This wild dog, ancestor of all dogs, just refuses to be tamed,” says one of these experts living in Zeeland, "because of its strange character and physical power.

"This is certainly not a dog to be kept by a private person, for it has too much personality to become subject to a master. In fact, it wants to live with human beings on the same level, but never on a master-animal relationship. "

This verdict is supported by the Director of the Rotterdam Zoo who started a training experiment about six years ago with a pair of dingoes given to him by a colleague from the Jersey Zoo in the Channel Islands.

Having little success in the early stages, it was thought that the dogs could be an unusual pair, and so two more pairs were imported from Australia. Export restrictions would normally have prevented this, but as the animals were required purely for scientific experiment, the Australian authorities waived the restriction. Unfortunately, the experiment ended in failure.

One dog breeder said, "This dog could only be kept in a cage of concrete. It has dug up our oil pipe buried three feet deep in the garden. It gnawed a huge hole in the wall because it heard water running in a nearby stream. It climbed a fence more than six feet high and regularly stole food from my neighbour's kitchen. Nevertheless, it was very gentle with me for a time. Finally it became clear, however, that this animal would never succumb to being a house dog. "

Another dog trainer told of his disillusionment: ''At first we thought we had a treasure because both our dingoes, which we named Dinkie and Tukumi, seemed to have fallen in love with my four children. It soon turned out that the dogs were strong-willed animals that refused to take orders. I have had experience with handling some very fierce dogs, but eventually I had to turn my two dingoes over to the Antwerp Zoo - still far from house-trained. "

A report recently issued contains many interesting facts about the dingo, all of which confirm the view long held in Australia that this animal is quite impossible to deal with."

In 1788 the general consensus was that the Dingo was unlikely to become familiar (common place). Surgeon John White says of the Dingo, 'It is capable of barking, although not so readily as the European dogs; it is very ill-natured and vicious, and snarls, howls, and moans, like dogs in common.'

Lt William Bradley says, ... 'It has much of the manners of the dog, but is of a very savage nature, and not likely to change in that particular. It laps like other dogs, but neither barks nor growls if vexed and seized, instead of which it erects the hairs of the whole body like bristles, and seems furious ... From its fierceness and agility it has greatly the advantage of other animals much superior in size, ...with utmost ease it is able to leap over the back of an ass, and was very near worrying one to death, having fastened on it, so that the creature was not able to disengage himself without assistance: it has been also known to run down both deer and sheep ... it is scarcely to be expected that this elegant animal will ever become familiar. "

Governor Hunter said 'We know that the native dogs of this country hunt and kill kangaroo; they may be more fierce but they do not appear to be so strong as our large greyhound ... Of those dogs we have had many which were taken when young, but never could cure them of their natural ferocity; although well fed, they would at all times, but particularly after dark, fly at young pigs, chickens, or any small animal which they might be able to conquer, and immediately kill and generally eat them. I had one which was a puppy when caught, but, notwithstanding I took such pains to correct and cure it of its savageness, I found it took every opportunity which it met with, to snap off the head of a fowl, or worry a pig, and would do it in defiance of correction. They are very good natured animal when domesticated, but I believe it to be impossible to cure that savageness, which all I have seen seem to possess.'

The Dingo displayed at the Australian Museum until about 1980 certainly did nothing to dispel the negative image of our dingo. With piercing eyes, lips shrunken into a perennial snarl, a bullet hole in its forehead plugged with rabbit fur, it was a real turn-off.

Dingo (left) and thylacine (right), as displayed at the Australian Museum in the 1970's-photo B J Walters

Dingo display at the Australian Museum 2015 - photo Pamela King

What's in a name?

You may remember I was surprised to discover some months back that the Macquarie Dictionary still uses the taxonomy Canis Lupis Dingo even though the Australian Government uses Canis Dingo and we all believed that was the correct taxonomy.

I have also noticed that both Sydney’s Taronga Zoo and the National Zoo also use Canis Lupis Dingo. Why? That is what I have been trying to find out. So I took it to an expert and this is a summary of what I have been told.

He agreed there is still speculation about the name of the dingo depending on whether the dingo is accepted as being distinct from dogs.

We know Meyer used Canis dingo in 1793 which was upheld by the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) in 1956. I understand that Canis lupus dingo, was proposed to the ICZN based on dingoes and dogs descending from wolves, but was never accepted. (I don’t know what year this was)

Canis familiaris came about because you can’t have a domesticated subspecies. Hence Canis lupus dingo cannot be a valid name. The same rule of not having a domesticated subspecies also applies in the case of Canis familiaris dingo – not valid

Evidently, regardless of the DNA evidence, there is still considerable debate on whether the dingo is unique enough for Canis dingo, or if it just a dog Canis familiaris. Whether it is a species or not depends on definitions.

Dingoes are not the only canids where debate continues about classification because of multiple origins of domestication etc

As always with the Dingo, politics comes into play. By giving Dingoes their own classification it makes it harder for those who want to see them eliminated completely.

Finally, the ICZN can make a recommendation, but they can’t actually make laws.

Clear as mud? Yep.

Berenice explains ‘play fighting’ between litter sisters.

From about 6 months of age, litter sisters Keira and Amber regularly sparred with each other.  

Keira was generally the less dominant, frequently showing her tongue. Concentration during these matches was total, and as their second breeding season approached, the behaviour became more intense.

 

Amber solicits Keira to play

Amber demands that Keira participate.

Upright, feet pressed against opponent’s shoulders, Amber and Keira commence their sparring, moving backwards and forwards over the ground, voicing their rage at each other.

Close up showing facial expressions and position of front feet, claws pressing into opponent. Although this scrapping is noisy, the rest of the colony took no notice. Visitors to the sanctuary who were not familiar with this ritual often became alarmed at the apparent hate the girls show each other. If this were a real fight the whole colony would scream in excitement, with general chaos as squabbles break out

The ritual is nearing completion as Keira starts to drop front feet and shows her tongue. Both forelegs will be lowered together. After break in eye contact, both will move carefully away.