Trapping Dingoes For Research...
Trapping dingoes for research: Our scientists trap dingoes to obtain biological samples or to fit them with devices such as tracking collars or identification tags. Leg hold trapping is the most commonly used method for these purposes. There are other techniques available like cage traps but dingoes are simply too clever to be caught this way. They say if used responsibly by experienced operators, leg- hold taps can generally be used without causing long term injury. However, poorly set up traps and inexperienced animal handling are a sure way to cause injury to a dingo, and a dingo is more likely to sustain an injury the longer it stays trapped. Leg-hold traps used in research are fitted with rubber pads, which cushion the dingoes leg against the steel jaws and decrease the likelihood of injury and stress. Despite rubber padding, dingoes can still sustain injuries from leg-hold traps. Once dingoes are trapped they may be sedated. They are usually held on a restraint board with straps fitted over their neck, chest and hindquarters to reduce the risk that they will be injured if they struggle, or that the researchers will be bitten by a struggling dingo. When the dingo has been caught it may be processed to collect information such as mass and body measurements, tissue and blood samples may be taken, microchips injected or ear tags fitted for future identification, and if they are to be monitored for a tracking study a GPS collar will be fitted. Data collected using GPS can be recorded at short term intervals throughout the day and night. Locations are stored in a memory chip in the collar and can be retrieved by recovering the collar. Many GPS collars have drop-off devices with a release mechanism set for a predetermined time or when on command by the researcher via a remote signal, enabling retrieval of the collar and freeing the dingo from its encumbrance...
TRACKING COLLARS: What about tracking collars? It is widely considered by experts that no surveillance method should be used which is likely to interfere with the animals’ ability to function naturally but we believe these tracking collars will disrupt normal dingo behaviour and cause instability amongst the packs. Some animals may be ostracized or even killed by other members of the group, the collars will also interfere with normal foraging habits, and with the denning and whelping process. In this day and age of microsizing where we can fit transmitters to frogs, dingoes should not have to wear collars that were in fact designed for bears and large animals like cougars. Clearly these collars are cumbersome and ugly. Do we want to see wild dingoes on Fraser Island or our mainland with collars around their necks?
