Dingoes can restore ecosystems...

DINGOES — can help restore ecosystems, and research proves it's not just the numbers that count. Understanding dingoes' social structure and behaviour is so crucial to land conservation. Current dingo control methods make things worse. Given the decline of many native species, the best part about restoring dingoes and their role in the landscape is that it comes for free — let them do what comes naturally. Their role has multiple flow-on effects in ecosystems, with history and research showing dingoes have critical roles in controlling other animal populations, namely herbivores and other predators. Now we're left with just the dingo as our largest land predator, which in many parts seems to be controlling feral cats, foxes, kangaroos and rabbits. Therefore, its presence has huge positive effects for biodiversity conservation and economics. More graziers think one dingo is too many. But quite a few are aware dingoes eat a large number of kangaroos, which compete with cattle for food and generally leave their cattle alone. They know dingoes also eat wild pigs, which can attack and kill calves. The problem with attacks on livestock is more complex. Dingoes have a tight pack structure: there's an alpha male and alpha female, the only ones who breed in a pack, and their offspring learn from them and are territorial. If humans bait or shoot them, we're interfering with that pack structure. On top of that, there is increasing hybridisation with domestic dogs — again, a result of human interference. Wild dingoes usually weigh less than 20 kilograms — roughly similar in size to a kelpie. But feral dogs can be much larger, up to the size of an Shepherd and may act very differently. What should be done? In cattle country, we should leave dingoes alone. In sheep country we should try to employ guardian dogs, such as the Maremma, alpacas or donkeys. These incredible animals have been used to protect everything from penguins to cattle. There's a strong potential to use these systems instead of baiting and shooting, which is costly economically and environmentally.