Dingo

Dingo

As the Dingo is a skilled predator, its diet is composed largely of mammals such as kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, rabbits and echidnas. Birds, reptiles, insects and fruit may also be eaten.

In order to reduce competition for food and to ensure the strongest animals survive, only the alpha pair breeds. The female gives birth to a litter of 4-5 pups after a 63-day gestation. Dingoes produce only one litter a year, unlike other dogs. Pack members, including the alpha male, help rear the litter and regurgitate food for both mother and pups. Pups begin to eat meat from 3-4 weeks of age.

The numbers of pure Dingoes in the wild are declining as they interbreed with domestic dogs. Dingoes in sparsely populated remote areas are more likely to be purebred. In some parts of Australia, the Dingo is considered to be vermin owing to stock losses.

Did you know?

  • Dingoes have the ability to turn their wrists, an adaptation developed for hunting.
  • A variety of howling sounds are used to alert other Dingoes of their presence, and as warning sounds to pack members.
  • Dingoes do not have the ‘doggy’ smell found in many domestic dog breeds.

 

  • When tracking moving prey, a Dingo can move its head almost 360 degrees.
  • Like all true wild dogs, Dingoes have scent glands on the tail.
  • Dingoes can dislocate their hips, allowing them to enter burrows and squeeze through very small openings.
Class
Mammalia
Order

Carnivora

Family

Canidae

Species Name

Canis dingo

Status

Vulnerable