Kangaroos-dingoes, How the dingoes work together to pull down animals to eat!

While we have a webpage about domestic straying dogs and kangaroos, this page relates to wild dogs and kangaroos....farm dogs or dogs that have escaped or been lost by pig hunters, and that have bred with dingoes to become a major environmental hazard.

This hazard is exacerbated when Government agencies hold aerial shoots of wild horses and pigs, because the dingoes are attracted to the carcases, and increase their numbers. Then the government agencies do 1080 poison drops to get rid of the buildup of dingoes.....go figure....

For many decades government agencies have been throwing 1080 poison, and before that cyanide, out of aircraft to control wild dogs....both dingoes and crossbreeds, yet we now have more wild dogs in the country than we have ever had before. The 1080 baiting programs have only been a bandaid, and have done little to heavily reduce wild dog numbers.

There is also sound evidence that 1080 is grossly inhumane, and poisoned dogs die in agony over several hours. No government agency has seriously looked at an humane alternative to poisoning unwanted wild animals, including dogs.

What is becoming clear is that wild dogs are a far more serious threat to wildlife than we have in the past realised. Its generally recognised that the dingo is rapidly being inbred with farm dogs and/or wild dogs that have been dumped or lost by pig hunters.

In NSW there are only a few Alpine dingoes left. Numbers vary from expert to expert, but some argue there are less than 100 purebred Alpine dingoes left.

The photo below shows a group of wild dogs attacking a large male kangaroo in a NSW National Park. Its seems very unusual for wild dogs to attack a large kangaroo, it may be that they first attacked a smaller female or joey, and the male came to the rescue. They appear to attack the tail, as if they know that if they disable the kangaroos ability to stand on its tail and kick, they have much better chance of killing it. The male escaped, but was bleeding from the tail.

The next photo shows how the dingoes coordinate their attack. In this instance the pack (probably a family pack) split up, and a group of four dogs herded the small kangaroo towards another four that were hiding in the grass. The small kangaroo made a bad choice of escape direction, and was caught between the two packs.

In this manner, they were reputed to have pulled down horses on Fraser Island. The dingoes in this pack are Alpine dingoes, believed to be around 70 to 80% purebred dingoes. The white coloring is believed to have come from purebred dingoes mating with Marimas and other breeds of sheepdogs. As these alpine dingoes are in a NSW National Park where adults and children go walking, they will almost certainly be killed by the Park rangers.

Wild Dogs and People!

While there has only been one confirmed death by dingoes in Australia, there have been hundreds of attacks and many deaths caused by domestic dogs. The boy killed by a couple of dingoes on Fraser Island in 2001 was running away from the dingoes, that were probably being playful. He fell, and the dingoes in nipping him, punctured a vein in his groin, and the boy bled to death before help arrived.

If you are bushwalking and you come across pack of wild dogs, like those above in the photos, be very cautious. If wild dogs will take on a large male kangaroo, why wouldn't they take on a human?

I remember bushwalking in the Byfield National Park in the 90's, when I stumbled across a large herd of wild pigs. I yelled at them, expecting them to run away, but a huge boar charged. I scrambled up a tree, and in few minutes the pigs wandered away to wherever wild pigs wander to.

We are not suggesting you climb a tree to escape from wild dogs, unless cornered, however the prudent thing to do would be to back off slowly, not taking your eyes off the dogs. And of course follow the golden rule of bushwalking, tell someone where you are going and what time you expect to return, take someone with you, and carry a good mobile or satelite phone.

Kangaroos and People!

Lately there has been quite bit of media hype about kangaroos attacking people. We suggest that;

Don't let your pet dog chase kangaroos, they might chase him back and they don't care who is in the dam with them, they'll do their best to drown it....and that includes you. Keep your dog on a leash near kangaroos.

Don't jog near kangaroos, particularly if you flap your hands around sissy style. To a kangaroo a pair of arms flapping around in the air is a challenge to fight, just take a look at any video or picture of male kangaroos sparring to see what we mean.

Don't put your kids near kangaroos, it's just plain dumb. Bears and tigers are cute too, would you sit your kid next to one then wander away to take a photo?

Don't turn your back on a mob of kangaroos.

Don't spook giant kangaroos. They don't have much of a sense of humour and don't appreciate being made look silly.