Fraser Dingoes 27/7.10

The fate of Australia's ancient dingo was sealed almost 30 years ago after five simple words - "a dingo took my baby" - forged an image of fierce, wild killers. The raging war by farmers and pastoralists to protect their livestock against wild dogs and generations of crossbreeding with domestic dogs has decreased the dingo gene pool by as much as 30 per cent, now classifying them as vulnerable on the threatened species list. The death of baby Azaria Chamberlain in 1980 was the most publicised dingo attack. Now, a group of passionate dog lovers are working to dispel the common misconceptions surrounding dingoes. "Many myths and fallacies surround the dingo, diminutive and naturally timid creatures that will favour 'flight' over 'fight' any day," WA Dingo Association president Darren Griffiths said. "They are gentle, loving and affectionate. Dingoes are not the 'baby-eating monsters' as they are often wrongly portrayed."

Labelling themselves as dingo conservationists, Mr Griffiths and group vice-president Leigh Mullan own two pure-bred dingoes - Loxie and 12-month-old Wylie which was rescued at just four weeks old after its parents were shot. Stepping up their fight to save dingoes, the pair recently bred their first litter in captivity. Mr Griffiths and Mr Mullan say the use of steel-jawed traps - which cause prolonged pain to dingoes until they died - was cruel and inhumane and should be banned and replaced with rubber padded soft-hold traps. "We understand the issues of stock predation but there are issues of needing to protect dingoes as well," Mr Mullan said. *WA News


The Opposition says a survey of dingoes on Fraser Island off Queensland's south-east coast does not indicate the dogs are healthy. It was thought there were between 100 and 200 dingoes on the island. The Government last week tabled the interim report for stage one of a study during a budget estimates hearing at Parliament House. It shows the dingo population on the island is larger than thought, with rangers tagging 231 dingoes and about a third of the population yet to be caught and tracked. Opposition sustainability spokesman Glen Elmes says there needs to be greater public involvement in the Government's Fraser Island dingo population study. Mr Elmes says it is a flimsy document that raises more questions than it answers. "A healthy population would be far more than 200," he said. "What you need to be able to do is have a gene pool that's deep enough that will stop a situation where you've got siblings mating with each other and a real risk of breaking down the genetics within the breed on Fraser Island." Mr Elmes says he doubts the interim report provides an accurate picture. "Until you start to include locals who live on Fraser Island, the people who represent the various groups on Fraser Island, as well as Indigenous people, you're not going to get a true and accurate look at the way in which the populations of dingoes on Fraser Island are split up," he said. *ABC

Ed Comment; Glen's quite right of course, and the so-called study the Government is doing is being done by the same people who are responsible for the Fraser Island dingo "management plan". Of course they would claim the dingoes are okay!