History unfairly used in the war against the Dingoes!

"The dingo isnt native to Australia and only arrived here 3,500-4,500 years ago ­ It is just a mongrel dog from Asia and we should just kill the wholebloody lot." I often hear and read this stance used as an argument as to why the dingo should have no place here on Australian shores and should in fact be kept on the vermin list. It is very effective in convincing the average person that this animal is feral and non native to Australia and so should be classified in the newly arrived feral category such as the fox, the cat and the rabbit.

It is used time and time again in the belief that it will help their cause to eradicate this ecologically important animal and many do actually accept this without putting too much thought into just how long 4,000 years really is in the timeline. Let me help put this into perspective for you and lets take a brief look at history.

We will start at approximately 4,000 years ago when the dingo was thought to have first arrived on our shores:·
The Sumerians were still in existence, although about to disappear as recognisable people after being over run by the Amorites.·
Babylon existed and was heavily into agriculture·
Troy was also in existence.·
The Sahara desert was still fertile and green.·
The wheel was just being introduced, especially on the Egyptianchariots. ·
Although metal was being introduced for tools in certain circles andareas, the average person was still using stone tools.

During the dingo's first 1,000 years here in Australia, great names such as Confucius, King Solomon, Homer, Pythagoras, Ramses II were living out theirlives around the world. During the next thousand years the likes ofSocrates and Plato and Alexander the Great were now living out their livestoo.The dingo had already been in Australia approx 1,500-2,000 years when Stonehenge was being built in the UK, when Sparta (yes that nation that wasfeatured in the movie 300) were still strong and the Roman Empire wascontemplating expansion.

I could point out many more events that give you an idea of just how longthe dingo really has been Australian, but I think you will be starting tounderstand the reality of how ludicrous this Onon-native¹ argument is bynow. These animals have been on our shores a long time and have certainlyhad plenty of time to adapt and become an integral part of the ecosystem. Studies show that they keep the ecosystem healthy and to lose our apexpredator would impact greatly on this fragile land.

Some elements of the farming community will also have us believe that these dingoes are responsible for the 20 native species of fauna that havedisappeared off our shores over the last 200 years or so. They would have you believe that the dingo is munching it's way relentlessly through our wildlife and so is a scourge to the nation. The question I would be asking these people is how come this has only become a major problem in the last 200 years or so and not for the prior 4,000 years before that?

Why is itthat this appalling extinction rate seems to coincide with the arrival ofwhite Europeans to this shore, who brought with them European farmingpractices which were never sustainable or suitable for such an ancient andfragile continent.I will finish with one more important event to remember to bring things into true perspective, our dingo had already been trotting round andadapting to our Australian bush for approx 2,000 years before the most famous name known to the western world was born in Bethlehem.

Yes... our dingo was well established here in our eco system when Jesus Christ was born and true Christianity as we know it began. Surely after all this time, the dingo has earned a title of Australian Native and not the 'feral pest' that it has at the moment. Maybe instead of driving yet another mammalian species into extinction, we should be finding a middle ground with the agricultural industry and the environmentalists and put these wrongs right and save this magnificent species before all we are left with are photos and the condemnation of future generations. * by Alison Oborn, source unknown.