Discovering Dingo Details

Beej Here Discovering Dingo Details

Dingo details for this article came from our experience at Healesville, their website (http://www.zoo.org.au/Healesville/Our_Animals/Dingo), and http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/dingo.htm and http://www.dingosanctuary.com.au/about_dingoes.htm
The pictures used in this article are ours.

Dingoes are wild dogs that live in the Australian bush and the outback areas.They are similar to Indian wolf dogs. The dingoes we got to pet were young (about 3 years old ) and one was named Tango.  Sorry- can’t remember the sister’s name.

The dingo does not have any natural predators in Australia (except humans) so they are at the top of the food chain. Some scientists believe they were brought over to Australia by seafarers from South Asia.

The dingoes move in packs and are very territorial. If a dingo moves into another pack’s territory they will start howling at each other instead of barking (as dingoes can’t bark). They do have a wide range of vocalizations from howling to yodeling, yelps, crows and purrs.

One major problem with the dingo here in Australia is that they can interbreed with domesticated dogs.  This is bad because, for some reason, this interbreeding seems to change the mindset and instincts of the animal. Instead of just killing a couple of sheep for food, the mixed breed will kill off a whole flock. It also is diminishing the line of the dingo and making a 'hybrid'. 

The dingo is an omnivore who eats mainly meat- Kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, sheep, wombats, reptiles and pretty much any meat they can catch are all on the menu. They will also occasionally eat greens and insects.

Dingoes only breed once a year, unlike domesticated dogs, which can breed twice a year. They have a litter of 5 pups usually and both parents help care for the babies. They will bring the food close to the den so the pups can ‘hunt’ for it. Dingoes mate for life.

Dingoes grow to about a foot and a half to two feet tall and about four feet long. They have course bushy coats ranging in colors from yellow to tan to brown to blackish. They have a bushy tail and large, upright, pointy ears. Dingoes are very intelligent dogs who have strong personalities and develop very strong bonds with their pack. Aboriginals used dingoes in hunting. In Aboriginal languages, they were called warrigal, noggum, boolomo, mirigung and maliki.

The up-close experience was really cool… here are some thoughts from those who got to get up close and personal with these wild dogs:

The Older thought the dingoes were extremely intelligent. He also thought it was funny that the trainer said training a dingo is like trying to train a cat. They are very independent and if you don’t have food, they really won’t listen.

Essie's thoughts: “The dingoes were pretty hyper and when one jumped up on me, it was a little surprising. I was glad I have big dogs at home so it didn’t freak me out. Their fur was soft and their tongues were tickly.”

As for me, I thought the dingo experience was extremely awesome. I think they are my favorite Australian animal… they are at the top of the food chain, just like lions on the African Savanna.


Thank you for reading this in-depth dingo discovery. Coming next…. Test your knowledge about the Tasmanian Devil.