Ideas, Inventions And Innovations
The Down Under View: Dingoes on Dogs, Wolves, and Domestication
Dogs are generally considered the first domesticated animal, while its ancestor is generally considered to be the wolf, but where the Australian dingo fits into this framework is still debated, according to a retired Penn State anthropologist. Indigenous Australians understood that there was something different about the dingoes and the colonial dogs, said Pat Shipman, retired adjunct professor of anthropology, Penn State. They really are, I think, different animals. They react differently to humans. A lot of genetic and behavioral work has been done with wolves, dogs and dingoes. Dingoes come out somewhere in between.
In October 2020, two trail bike riders discovered four orphaned dingo cubs in a hollow log on Yaitmathang country in the Victorian High Country. Two ran off, but two who were captured - Myrtle and Moko - could change the way dingoes are treated in Australia.
Speaking with NITV News, the Australian Dingo Foundation s Dingo Discovery Sanctuary and Research Center Manager Kevin Newman said it s difficult to tell how old Myrtle and Molo were when they came to the sanctuary, because they were so small. They were about three kilograms, because they were quite malnourished, said Mr Newman. Close to death, they had survived for several weeks on a diet of grass and crickets. They were obviously quite psychologically damaged as well.
By Charlie Cavell, BPCC Athletic Coordinator
The Bossier Parish Community College Lady Cavaliers swept a doubleheader Sunday from the McLennan Community College Highlassies, 9-1 (5 innings) and 4-2, at the BPCC Softball Field.
In game two, BPCC sophomore left fielder Uchenna Jong-Long gave the Lady Cavaliers a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-RBI single.
Jong-Loy, who’s from Amsterdam, Holland, would get her third RBI of the game on a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Haylee Ladner’s sacrifice fly plated Primrose Aholelei with BPCC’s third run in the at-bat before Jong-Loy’s single.
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An animal rights group has voiced concerns about a proposal to reintroduce dingoes into the Grampians, warning the native predators would be at risk of being poisoned or shot if found on private property.
A 15-year draft plan created by Parks Victoria and three groups of traditional owners to guide the management of the Grampians was released in November and contained a proposal to restore “locally extinct and culturally significant wildlife” such as the dingo and the quoll.
The proposal to reintroduce dingoes into the Grampians National Park has been fiercely opposed by local farmers.
Credit:Neil Newitt
It outlined a proposal to investigate, with farmers and academic institutions, whether the reintroduction of the native predator could “restore missing ecological processes” and control pest species as well as overabundant populations of kangaroos and wallabies.
Pure alpine dingo cubs found in Victoria s High Country reveal threatened species still exists, experts say
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The siblings were severely malnourished when they were discovered.
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Sibling cubs recently rescued in Victoria s High Country have become the latest to be revealed as purebred alpine dingoes.
Key points:
Two orphaned pure alpine dingo pups have been found in north-east Victoria
UNSW s Dr Kylie Cairns says dingos are a native species and important to healthy ecosystem function as Australia s apex predator
Australian Dingo Foundation s Lyn Watson says the pups likely became orphaned after their parents were trapped and shot