Dingo at home. Australian dingo (wild dog Dingo). History and characteristics of the breed

The name "Dingo" probably comes from "Tingo" - the word that the natives of Port Jackson called their dogs. Fossil remains indicate that dingoes were brought to Australia by immigrants from Southeast Asia, as an option - from the Malay Archipelago.

History of the origin of the breed Australian Dingo

In Vietnam, the oldest dingo skull was found, which is about 5500 years old. Also, remains of 2500-5000 years old are found in other parts of Southeast Asia. At the same time, the oldest fossilized remains of dingoes found in Australia are approximately 3450 years old. In 2004, studies of the mitochondrial DNA of dingoes were published, which date the appearance of these dogs in Australia to 4000 BC, suggesting. that all Australian dingoes are descended from this small group.

Abandoned and escaped dingoes have found excellent living conditions in Australia, where the climate is warm, there are few enemies and competitors, and there is a lot of food. Dogs multiplied and settled throughout the continent and nearby islands. They did not get only to Tasmania.

Dingoes gather in packs, and group hunting gives them an advantage over lone marsupial predators. It is even believed that dingoes caused the extinction of a number of marsupials, including the largest native predator, the marsupial wolf.

The ability to hunt in packs gave them an important advantage over solitary marsupial predators. Presumably, dingoes caused the extinction of a number of marsupials, including the largest native predator, the marsupial wolf (thylacine).

There is also an opinion that the dingo is an almost purebred descendant of the domesticated Indian wolf, whose wild specimens are still found on the Hindustan Peninsula and in Balochistan.

In 1958, in the forests of New Guinea, was discovered wild dog similar to a dingo, but smaller. And recently, a wild Carolina dog was discovered in the southeastern United States, which also looks like an Australian dingo.

Currently, wild dingo dogs are distributed throughout Australia, especially in the central, northern and western parts. And in other countries: Southeast Asia, Thailand, Myanmar, southeast China, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, New Guinea.

Dingoes now occupy an important place in Australia's ecology because are the main population of mammalian predators on the continent, during the settlement of which they displaced local predators, and occupied the biological niche of creatures capable of regulating the population of herbivores, and rabbits that breed in Australia in huge quantities. At the same time, they help some species of aboriginal fauna not to disappear, destroying feral cats and foxes.

In the 19th century, sheep breeding began to develop among the settlers. It has become an important branch of the Australian economy, in connection with which dingoes that hunted sheep began to be massively destroyed with poison, traps, and shot :(. In 1880, these measures were not enough, and the construction of the "Dog Fence" (a huge fence made of mesh, which used to fence off areas of sheep pasture, protecting herds from dingoes and pastures from rabbits.) In the 1960s, separate sections of the fence were connected together, resulting in a huge barrier that was interrupted only at highway crossings. Now the fence stretches from the city of Toowoomba about The Great Australian Bight, 8500 km long, the longest man-made structure, special patrols are on duty along the fence, which close holes in the net, rabbit holes and tunnels, and kill dingoes that crawl through the fence.

Dingo people are rarely attacked, but there have been precedents. For example, the trial of the Australian Chamberlain family is known. Their nine-month-old daughter Azaria was dragged away by a dingo, and her parents were initially blamed for her death.

Although there are enthusiasts who seek to re-domesticate dingoes, keeping them as pets is prohibited in some countries. In Asia, the meat of wild dingo dogs (as well as other dogs) is eaten with pleasure by the local population :(.

Features of the breed Australian dingo, diet, habitat and lifestyle

Mostly dingoes are nocturnal animals. They like to be in dry eucalyptus thickets, in semi-deserts in the depths of the mainland, and on the edges of humid forests. These dogs usually make their lairs near water bodies, in abandoned burrows, caves or among the roots of trees, where there is shelter. In Asia, dingoes "graze" near people's dwellings, and they feed on the garbage of the Lair, they arrange them in caves, empty burrows, among tree roots, usually not far from water bodies. In Asia, dingoes keep close to human habitation, feeding on garbage.

About 60% of the diet of a wild dingo dog is made up of small mammals (in particular, rabbits), and they also hunt kangaroos and wallabies, sometimes birds, reptiles, and insects. Periodically they feed on carrion and steal cattle from peasant lands, although, as it turned out, livestock makes up only 4% of the dingo's diet, as dogs often slaughter sheep without eating them. As mentioned above, in Asia, dingoes often feed on food waste, and also occasionally catch rats and lizards.

Dingoes are pack dogs. Family packs usually number from 3 to 12 individuals, like wolves that gather around a dominant pair. Each family group defends its hunting ground from other families. And within each group there is a strict hierarchy. However, young dingoes are solitary until they "find their destiny" and only huddle together when hunting big game.

The mating season for Australian dingoes happens once a year in March-April, and for Asian dingoes in August-September. Dingoes are monogamous, and choose one partner for life. Pregnancy lasts 63 days, as in ordinary dogs. The female gives birth in her lair. There are usually 6-8 puppies in a litter, born blind but covered with hair. Both parents take care of the offspring. Puppies don't stay children for long. At the age of three weeks, the mother stops feeding them milk, and they leave their native den for the first time. By eight weeks they already live together with other members of the pack, while, somewhere up to twelve weeks, all members of the pack bring them food and water, which they burp, and feed the puppies. And at 3-4 months, puppies are already fully capable, and go hunting with adults.

Life expectancy in nature for dingoes is about 10 years, and in captivity about 13.

Purebred dingoes now live mainly in national parks and other protected areas, because dingoes and ordinary domestic dogs interbreed easily, and there are entire populations of hybrid wild dingoes. Mestizo dingoes are more aggressive, and breed twice a year, so they pose a greater threat to livestock.

"It's indescribable!" said the Australian dingo, looking sadly at the baobab.

Appearance of the Australian Dingo

Standard FCI breeds not recognized.
General form and description: well-built (hound-like physique) dogs medium size. Males are much larger than females, and Asian dingoes are smaller than Australian ones, apparently due to a lack of protein food. They never bark, but they can howl and growl.

Height at the withers: 47-67 cm.
Body length with head: 86-122 cm.
Tail: 26-38 cm, fluffy, saber-shaped.
Weight: from 9.5 to 19 kg.
Muzzle: square.
Ears: small, erect.
Coat: Dingoes have short and thick fur.
Color: typical - rusty-red or reddish-brown, on the muzzle and lighter on the stomach. Occasionally there are almost black, white and piebald. In the southeast of Australia, there is a gray-white dingo breed. There are black and tan dingoes (like a Rottweiler). They are considered dingo hybrids with domestic dogs.

Dingo (lat. Canislupusdingo) - a wild dog that has re-became pet. Wild dingoes belong to the canine family and the wolf family. At the time of the discovery of Australia, dingoes were the only large mammals that were not marsupials.

The dingo is of medium size, its structure resembles the grace of hound dog breeds. Her body is toned, with well-developed muscles. In this dog, everything is folded harmoniously: from the tip of the nose to the tail. Due to the dense undercoat, dingoes are not afraid of frost and heat.

CharacteristicsDescription
GrowthUp to 65 cm, in rare cases above
The weightUp to 25 kg, in rare cases more
HeadThe skull is flat. Elongated, square-shaped muzzle, powerful jaws, able to hold game. Ears erect. Eye color from light to dark shade of brown
torsoThe body length is about 120 cm. The tail is on average 35 cm long, sometimes slightly twisted towards the back, fluffy
ColorWool is thick and dense undercoat, color more common shades red, rarely black or gray
limbsLong, strong

Dingoes can form flocks ranging from 12 to more dogs. Only one pair will be dominant in the pack, the rest must obey and help take care of the offspring.

Dingoes are very intelligent and active animals. When exterminating these dogs, they use different kind traps that dingoes easily find and bypass. In addition to humans, wild dingo dogs have a serious enemy - the jackal.

What you need to know! Dingoes of pure blood never bark, but are capable of making wolf howls and chest growls.

The history of the dog

The most common theory of the origin of the dingo in Australia is that it was supposedly brought by people from Asia by hunters and crop gatherers. On the mainland, the dogs, abandoned by their owners, spread in order to obtain food. Dogs formed packs to make it easier for them to hunt local game. It is believed that this is what caused the extinction of many lonely marsupial mammals. It is believed that dingoes are a subspecies of the wolf, but some experts distinguish them as an independent species. There is also a version that dingo dogs come from a domesticated Indian wolf, which is common in Hindustan. In the 50s, a singing dog was found in New Guinea, which is very reminiscent of a dingo. Only its size is inferior to Australian dogs. It also vaguely resembles a dingo, a Carolina dog discovered in the United States of America.

What you need to know! In the story "Wild Dog Dingo, or the Tale of the First Love" written in 1939. R. Fraerman first mentioned dingo dogs.

Habitat and lifestyle of the dingo dog

Dingo is common not only in Australia, but also found in Southeast Asia. The dog is very active dark time days. The real habitat of this breed is semi-deserts and eucalyptus forests. Dingo loves to settle in small cavities the upper part of the earth's crust, under a large root system of trees, or occupy small underground tunnels that other animals have left for some reason. Dogs also like to be located near a reservoir with fresh water.

In Asia, dingoes have to be side by side with humans, periodically visiting various garbage dumps in search of food.

What you need to know! Wild dingoes in nature prey on small mammals, reptiles are not even averse to feasting on kangaroos and wallabies.

Due to their close proximity to humans, dingoes often raided cattle so the dogs began to be exterminated.

Dingoes can live both alone and in packs. There are an average of 12 dogs in a pack. Dingoes settle in a certain territory, and then carefully guard it.

Purchasing a Dingo Puppy

The dingo, due to its exotic appearance, is very difficult to acquire. Since the animal is wild, and naturally not recognized as a breed, there are no nurseries in Russia. Even in zoos there is no way to get a puppy. The fact is that for the reliability of providing appropriate care for the dog, the conclusion of special contracts and the preparation of documents is required. The only option is to purchase a puppy abroad, for very small amounts. A puppy can cost at least $600, excluding shipping.

What you need to know! Dingo dogs are wild animals that, without the right education and training, will never become domesticated. The dog chooses only one person to be the owner, and if the owner decides to refuse such a relationship, the dingo may die. Therefore, the acquisition of a dingo dog is a very responsible step that can destroy the animal.

Before you get a dingo puppy, you should consider:

  1. The dog is active, you need to walk with it for a long time, it does not tolerate long minutes of calmness, it constantly needs movement.
  2. Dingo does not accept other pets.
  3. A cold attitude towards a person is the norm for a dingo; she can become attached to only one family member.
  4. Dingo will never be your companion. The dog will be better off in a spacious yard country house where he can be guarded.
  5. In care, dingoes are not whimsical, they need to be bathed only twice a year, not more often.
  6. Dingo is a predatory animal, it is worth considering balanced diet, which will include meat cereals and vegetables.

Dingoes are very strong dogs that survive well in natural conditions. They have good immunity, but to live in the city it is necessary to be vaccinated, like all domestic dogs.

Unfortunately, the dingo will never be your best and true friend. These dogs will not let you get bored, and will always be eager to be free, because wild blood will always rule them.

Video - Family of wild dogs Dingo

Feeding the dingo dog

Dingoes are predators that prefer to hunt at night. In Australia, dogs without diligence will be able to catch a rabbit, opossum, reptile, rat, wallaby, bird and even a kangaroo. Do not neglect to regale on carrion. Due to the lack of game for some reason, dogs attack livestock and poultry.

In Asian dingoes, the diet consists mainly of fish and meat leftovers, vegetable and cereal products. Due to poor nutrition, dingoes in Asia are small in size.

At home, feeding should be as close as possible to feeding in the wild. That is, the basis must be meat products. Also, the dog should always have access to a bowl of fresh water. Vitamins and minerals need to be added to food regularly. Especially when home maintenance Dingoes are deficient in zinc.

Dingo dog care

Dingoes are constantly in need of large physical exercise. It is necessary to constantly involve the dog in various campaigns and exploration of new areas, otherwise the dingo may get bored and make a solo trip without an owner. Dogs also willingly participate in training where you need to overcome obstacles. If you notice a dog digging the ground, this is clear sign that the dingo is very boring. That is why keeping a dingo in an aviary is a problematic task, because at any moment a dog can dig and break free. During walks, the dingo must be on a leash, otherwise its huge energy can turn into an escape action. If you manage to find an approach to a dingo, then she may be for you. a good watchman and a hunter. After a good hunt, hunters often reward their pets with small game for their help and excellent behavior. You can not count on a closer relationship, although the dog is attached to only one person, but detachment will always be in her blood.

The dog does not require special care, since dingo hair does not have a specific smell. You should comb your pet a couple of times a year to eliminate the dense undercoat.

Mandatory annual vaccination is the key to the health of your dog.

What you need to know! If you have chosen a dingo as a pet, never forget its strong hunting instincts. In no case do not leave small pets with her, and especially children, because these dogs are completely unpredictable.

The nature and characteristics of education

Dingoes have a complex disposition and rebellious character, it is difficult to educate it, and few people managed to tame it. Dogs hate being tied up and will constantly try to free themselves from shackles. Even if the dingo looks absolutely calm from the outside, this will not prevent him from attacking a person in the presence of the owner. Therefore, it is worth considering the wild habits of this animal and always be on the lookout. However, Australian dingoes do not get along badly with a single owner, whom they will immediately serve.

The owner of a dingo must be prepared for the difficult, laborious journey of raising his pet.

Reproduction and life expectancy of a dingo dog

Dingoes are pack animals, but only one pair, which is dominant, will have the right to breed. The rest of the pack members can only help and take care when puppies appear. Power in the pack is established by constant showdowns.

Dingo breeding occurs only once a year: in Australia, the mating season is from March to April, in Asia from August to September. Pregnancy lasts about nine weeks, at the end of which six to eight babies are usually born. Babies are born completely blind and covered with hair. All members of the pack participate in the upbringing of puppies.

By the end of the third week, puppies take their first steps out of the den, and also move to adult food. Up to twelve weeks, the pack feeds the puppies, regurgitating the prey to the babies. Upon reaching four months, puppies become completely independent and help adults in search of prey. Dingoes become sexually mature at the age of one to three years, and choose one partner for the rest of their lives.

On average, the life expectancy of a dingo in captivity is up to thirteen years, while in nature they live about ten.

What you need to know! In a flock, only the main pair has the right to breed. Mating occurs no more than once a year. If a puppy appears in the pack not from the main female, then she eliminates him. While the kids of the main couple are growing, they are raised and fed by all members of the flock.

In captivity, dingoes are often bred with other dogs, so hybrids are obtained. AT modern time purebred dingoes inhabit National parks Australia. All hybrids are much more dangerous than wild dingoes. Their temperament combines the wildness and aggressiveness of the dingo and the ability to bring offspring 2 times a year from domestic dogs.

Video - Hunting wild dingo dogs

The wild dog dingo is perhaps the only one of all representatives wildlife can become attached to a person and live with him, unlike the same wolves. There are many cases when a person took babies for himself, and those, in turn, developed like domestic dogs.

The dingo dog can be found in Australia. Outwardly, it resembles both a wolf and a domestic dog at the same time. An animal of small stature, about fifty centimeters at the withers, but there are also especially large individuals, mostly males, they can reach seventy centimeters. Dingoes are very beautiful and even cute, dogs have a rather large head and a rounded nose, ears are wide and erect. The wool of Australian residents is usually sandy brown with a grayish tinge. Albinos are also quite rare, mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country. You can also meet dogs with very dark hair, such individuals appeared from crossing with domestic dog breeds, presumably with shepherd dogs.

For a long time, dingoes have been the masters of the continent, as well as the nearby islands. We can say that they had neither rivals nor competitors, except perhaps for the marsupial wolf, the Australian opossum and the thylacine.

Animal dingo can be safely called a nocturnal animal. These cute dogs live mainly in forests, as a rule, exclusively where a dry climate prevails, for example, in eucalyptus thickets or arid deserts, which are located inland. The wild dog dingo is a predatory animal, they hunt birds, reptiles and numerous marsupials that live in these parts. Dogs arrange their dwellings, as a rule, among the roots of huge trees, in pits, or they choose caves for their place of residence. In a word, for housing they choose only secluded places, those that are closed from prying eyes and inaccessible to people. Dogs live in packs certain period time until the puppies grow up and go into adulthood.

Dingoes are the oldest animals in Australia. The dingo dog has lived on this continent for more than six thousand years. The remains of ancient dogs are found mixed with the remains of marsupials. Scientists still cannot establish the exact origin of the dingo, and controversy has not subsided to this day.

Dogs mate in winter time years, and in the spring puppies are born. Pregnancy, like other dogs, is short-lived, about nine weeks. After that, about eight puppies are born. They do not come out until two months, at which time they live in their lair, where their mother feeds them with milk.

Puppies live with their parents for up to two years, during which time they learn everything necessary for life and learn to hunt. Dogs go hunting, usually in pairs or alone. Much less common are family flocks consisting of five or six individuals, most often it is a mother with her cubs.

Dingoes are real masters of hunting, they approach this process with skill, and quite consciously choose an object for hunting. In addition, wild dogs are very fast, their speed can be up to sixty kilometers per hour. Predators treat everything new with distrust, and this helps them survive in difficult conditions, where danger lies in wait for them at every step. Their main enemy is man. Due to the fact that dogs lead a nocturnal and rather secretive lifestyle, not very, to put it mildly, smart people dubbed them cowards and fools, although, in fact, everything is exactly the opposite. Dingoes are smart, brave, dexterous, resourceful and quick-witted, and the courage of these animals can only be envied. It is clear that they lead a nocturnal lifestyle solely because of their characteristics, and not because they are not brave enough to go out in broad daylight.

Since the Europeans arrived on the continent, the life of a wild dog has changed a lot, it has new neighbors. People brought sheep with them, which bred and began to live in the territory, on the same equal rights as other animals. Rabbits also arrived, which later became the main prey of the dingo.

However, many say that dingoes are not truly wild animals and predators, but are feral domestic dogs, perhaps from the most ancient prehistoric era. In the seventeenth century, when the first Europeans set foot on the land of Australia, they found at that time, in addition to dingoes, only bats and rats that lived there. The presence of rats and mice can be explained quite easily, it is believed that the mice arrived from Asia, and the rats got here on the trees brought by the current. But many find it difficult to explain the presence of dogs. According to one version, many centuries ago, Asia and Australia were connected by land, scientists believe that this is why dogs got here by the connecting bridge. Based on this version, the question arises - why did marsupials or other animals living at that time in Asia not get in the same way?

They say that dingoes are descendants of dogs of indigenous Asian tribes. Once upon a time, they came with sailors, or on their own, to Australia and bred here. There are many similarities between the dogs of Asia and the dingo, for example, both never bark, but only squeal or howl. We can say that they are "talkative" animals. For example, they always give a voice when they approach their home. In a moment of danger, they also never remain silent. Dingoes also give voice before fierce fights among themselves. The howling of dogs can be heard at night, during the day they are most often silent. Despite their difficult, and perhaps ferocious disposition, dingoes never attack people. It is believed that this is an echo of their ancient nature, and the memory that they once lived with a man.

There are quite frequent cases when pastoralists adopted still very small wild dogs, which later behaved exclusively like domestic dogs, and even barked and began to wag their tail!

Quite often it happens that a person, invading someone else's territory, establishes his rights, and this happened with Australia. People began to kill dogs with guns, put traps on them, and poison them with poison. But dingoes defend their rights and try to escape from the most bloodthirsty animal in the world, whose name is man.

E. KONKOVA, biologist.

For someone who is looking for not just a friend, but also an undistorted character, I will advise you to get a dog of a completely different type. I myself prefer dogs that are relatively close to wild forms.
Konrad Lorenz. "Man Finds a Friend"

Red-brown color - the most typical for dingoes.

Unlike other dogs, a purebred dingo cannot bark loudly, it can only yelp, howl and growl.

Australian Cattle Dog Heeler. Directing the animals, the healer bites them on the lower parts of the legs (heels in English - heels). The immediate ancestors of the Heeler were the Dingo, the Blue Marble Collie, the Dalmatian and the Kelpie.

Australian kelpie. This breed, known since 1870, is probably descended from the Border Collie and the Dingo. On vast pastures, quick-witted four-legged helpers graze thousands of flocks of sheep. One dog replaces 23 shepherds in work.

Dingoes prefer to live in families or small groups.

wild australian dog dingo (Canis dingo). Photo by M. Harvey (from the Encyclopedia of Animals of Cyril and Methodius).

Australian aborigine with dingo.

The wild Australian dog dingo is considered one of the oldest breeds. In many textbooks of zoology, it is even distinguished as a special subspecies - "canis dingo".

The well-known zoologist and writer, Professor Bernhard Grzimek, visiting Australia, wrote in his book "Four-legged Australians": "There has been incessant controversy about dingoes for a hundred years. Who are they? Are they real wild dogs, like wolves northern hemisphere, or are they akin to the beautiful, bold, spotted hyena dogs of Africa? Or maybe they are just the descendants of feral domestic dogs? ... According to the structure of teeth and bones, dingoes cannot be distinguished from ordinary domestic dogs; and no other morphological features distinguishing these animals from dogs".

The pedigree of the dingo is indeed full of mysteries. According to latest research geneticists, this dog cannot be an Australian aborigine. Some scientists believe that she arrived on the Australian continent with the first Asian settlers about 4000 years ago. In remote areas of Indonesia still lives local form wild dogs - the ancestors of the dingo. Others claim that the ancestors of the dingo were Chinese domestic dogs that appeared in Australia with people who migrated from southern China about 6,000 years ago. Still others suggest that the dingo originated from Indian wolves and Pariah dogs, since according to physical features very similar to them. Probably, he came to the green continent along with sailors from India.

Dingo is a medium-sized dog with a strong, muscular body of a reddish-brown color, a pointed head, short ears and fluffy tail. Some have erect ears, others drop; the tail is curved differently. Occasionally there are individuals of black, dark brown, white color and spotted.

Wild dogs make their lairs in caves, pits or among roots. big trees. Both parents take care of the offspring. For four months, the mother feeds the babies with milk. At five months, he begins to teach them how to hunt small rodents and rabbits. The one-year-old dingo, along with adult dogs, is already taking part in hunting large mammals.

Smart, cautious, agile, with excellent vision and hearing, dingoes prefer to live in families or small groups. Each group occupies and guards its carefully marked territory. But sometimes dogs team up to help each other hunt kangaroos. Large flocks cause damage to farms.

In Australia, the dingo is the enemy of all sheep breeders. He is pursued and mercilessly exterminated. And along with him, they "grab" an innocent red-brown shepherd dog, very similar to a dingo. AT late XIX century, at the request of desperate farmers, a giant, 5531 kilometers long, fence was built around the pastures of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. The need for this anti-dinging barrier is highly contested today, as predators find ways to bypass the barrier anyway. In addition, the farmers themselves suffer the enormous cost of repairing this gigantic "Chinese wall" as wolves, kangaroos and emus are constantly tearing apart the wire fence.

The campaign of farmers on dingoes with poisons, guns, traps and gases stirred up Australian nature lovers. The campaign launched by them put the dingo in the spotlight. Many scholars have spoken of the importance ecological niche wild Australian dog: if you destroy the dingo, then the kangaroo will devastate all pastures and cause irreparable damage to sheep breeding. According to zoologists, sheep make up only seven percent of the dingo's diet. The main food of these dogs is bush kangaroos, rats, marsupial mice, opossums and marsupial badgers.

In France and Spain, the dingo participates in exhibitions and defeats other representatives of the canine family. Switzerland has already developed an official standard for the Australian dog.

Kennels have appeared in Australia where they raise puppies for those who want to "adopt" a wild dog. Although the dingo is easy enough to tame and the tamed dog looks quite friendly (he tirelessly shows respect and obedience to the owner, attaches himself to him with all his heart and even protects the house and children from possible danger), however, no cattle breeder would dare to leave a tame dingo in the same pen with sheep for the night. After all, the ancient hunting instinct can wake up in a dog at any moment, and then trouble will not be avoided!

Many Australians use dingoes to breed (by crossing with the Scottish Shepherd Collie) purely Australian shepherd dogs - kelpies, healers.

Cheerful, mischievous, smart dingo does not need complicated care. Unpretentious in food and resistant to disease, he gets along well in the company of other dogs. Distinctive feature dingo - the absence of the usual sonorous bark. He can only howl and growl. Like tamed wolves, this is a "dog of one master." Changes of the owner basically does not take out. Runs away, languishes or dies. With a long absence of communication with a person, a dingo, like other dogs, runs wild.

Dingo dog is an Australian dog that was once a domestic dog. The term dingo means re-feral. domestic dog. The remains of the Dingo in Australia date back to 3500 BC, although similar remains found in Asia date back to about 5 thousand years BC. This has led to the theory that all Australian Dingoes are descendants of dogs brought to Australia from Asia around 4000 BC. Since there are few predators in Australia, and the dingoes themselves became the largest, there is a lot of game and a warm climate, abandoned dogs have perfectly adapted to independent life. Dingo dogs settled throughout the entire continent. It is believed that Dingo dogs are direct descendants of the once domesticated wolves of India, which very quickly became wild again in Australia.

Appearance of dingo dogs

The dog is medium in size, the height at the withers at the cables is up to 67 cm. The females are much smaller than the males. Fawn colored, densely built and muscular dogs. The ears are erect, the muzzle is square, the tail is fluffy. Dingo dogs they don’t know how to bark, like wolves they can only grumble and growl, and of course all Dingoes howl.

Dingo Dog Lifestyle

Dingo dogs are nocturnal animals. They live in caves and burrows. They feed on small mammals, mainly rabbits, but also hunt kangaroos and wallabies. With the advent of farms in Australia and the development of cattle breeding, livestock began to be hunted. This provoked farmers to shoot wild dogs. But Dingo quickly realized that easy prey is too expensive and stopped attacking openly, but as it turned out later, they do not always eat sheep, but only kill. Since Dingoes are direct descendants of wolves (according to scientists), then, like wolves, they live in packs of 4-10 individuals. The whole flock is built around the leader and his female.

Dingoes are very smart animals, so the first thing they did when they got to the mainland was to eliminate such rivals as marsupial wolves and marsupial devils. In addition, Dingo easily avoid the traps and traps that people set up. On the this moment their main competitors are jackals.

In the world, these dogs are kept in zoos and there are even kennels for their breeding. But the nature of these dogs is so obstinate and rebellious that it is almost impossible to tame them and keep them as pets. These dogs love freedom, large spaces and hunting. Dingo puppies begin to be hunted from 5 months, so by the age of 1-1.5 they become excellent hunters.

The meaning of Dingo in the world of people

Since the sheep were “slaughtered” and a lot of money was spent on fighting them, people decided to enclose the pastures with a fence. Its length is 8500 km and it is interrupted only in sections where the highway runs. Millions of dollars are spent annually to maintain this structure. There is a special patrol that looks for damage in the fence mesh and fixes it.

Dingo is perhaps the most amazing dogs, they were identified in separate view, although initially it was only a breed of dog. Now the Dingo dog population is not threatened by anything and people do not stop trying to domesticate representatives of these amazing, intelligent and beautiful animals.

Photo of Dingo dogs

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