Impact of the Dingo on Australian Fauna
Many people today believe that the dingo has had a substantial impact on the Australian fauna. While there have been studies that lean towards a link between the decrease in number of certain Australian Fauna there is still no hard firm evidence that dingoes are the major influence. Researchers have also linked the dingo to the extinction of the thylacine and came up with suggestions as to how this animal brought in over 3000 years ago by the Aborigines as a pet could have caused such a dramatic impact on some of Australia’s fauna. The diet of the dingo can be seen as a good indication of the degree of impact that it has on different Australian fauna. ... In most cases except that of the Nullarbar region the majority of remains found in the stomach of the dingo studied were of kangaroos. ... Corbett (1995) points out that this may have to do with a ‘search image’, that is, once a dingo has an image of what they are hunting it tends to stick in their heads and they don’t pay as much attention to other prey. ... The impact on Australian fauna could possibly become disastrous for some species. The dingo is claimed to have caused an impact on one of Australia’s well know native animals. According to Thomson (1992) in northwestern Australia studies suggest that the major decline in kangaroos between 1979 and 1980 was due to dingo predation because of the high density of dingoes present during this year and the year before. ... The impact the dingo has on the numbers of kangaroos in a particular area is also re-emphasised in other studies indicated Thomson (1982). In most cases the only defence a kangaroo has to escape from a dingo is fleeing. Jarman and Wright (1993) indicate that the larger a group of kangaroos, the earlier they are likely to detect a dingo thus giving them more time to escape. ... In extremely rare cases as seen by Wright (1993) a large male kangaroo may stand up to a dingo and put up fight standing as tall as it can. In this case after a little scuffle the dingo left leaving the kangaroo terrified. ... Studies of stomach contents show that the dingo is one of the major predators of the Rufus-Hare Wallaby.