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There is a compelling list of anecdotal evidence in favour of the dingo’, but it is only in the last few years that scientific data to demonstrate this has started to be collected. Unlike the domestic dog that breeds twice annually, the dingo breeds only once a year and howls rather than barks. Wild domestic dogs have, however, inter-bred with dingoes. Dingoes are classified as wild dogs and regarded as pests in all states. They are protected in the Northern Territory and late two years ago the Victorian Government announced it would declare the dingo a threatened species, but landholders would still be free to kill it on their own land. Each year $6.5 million is spent on poisoning, trapping, shooting or fencing wild dogs because of the damage they do to livestock. The persecution of the dingo and hybridisation with wild dogs means purebred dingo populations are diminishing in large parts of southern Australia. The endangered dusky hopping mouse, in the remote sand dunes of the Strezleki Desert, is one of those species benefiting from the dingo’s presence. In a study in press in the Journal of Conservation , Dr Mike Letnic from the University of Sydney has found the threatened mouse does better where dingoes are active. If dingoes are absent, foxes move in and mouse numbers decline. Dr Letnic’s project took him from the Great Australian Bight to Coopers Creek in south-west Queensland on both sides of the dingo barrier fence. He found clear evidence that dingoes are beneficial. ‘Where dingoes were active he found less kangaroos, more grass, less foxes and more small mammals. Where dingoes were missing he saw more kangaroos, less grass, more foxes and less small mammals.’ The next step is to understand the mechanisms behind how dingoes interact with the system and benefit native species. While kangaroo numbers are reduced by dingo predation, it suggests the mere presence of the predator may have a greater effect. If kangaroos are more cautious because of dingoes, their access to food resources is diminished and they’ll be less productive. Less grazing pressure and more grass mean more energy for small native animals. Grasses will have a greater chance to set seed, with flow-on effects for grain eating mammals, insects, birds and reptiles. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is researching dingo interactions on nine of its reserves. It is looking at the interactions between dingoes and cats rather than foxes on its northern properties. ‘Results are fairly preliminary,’ says National Conservation and ‘I think we’ll find that dingoes are generally good for native fauna and diversity in the arid and semi-arid regions and in the rangelands The dingo is a highly intelligent animal, like the wolf, and when in stable packs, hunts cooperatively in a sophisticated manner. But baiting with 1080 poison by farmers and land managers can disrupt a pack’s stability and allow young rogue males to move in and do far worse damage to livestock. Professor Johnson and his team have an Australian Research Council grant which is allowing them to test this and other questions by comparing cattle properties that do and do not bait. To help resolve the sheep producer’s problem with dingoes, they are also investigating the effectiveness of livestock guardian dogs under Australian conditions.