A COMPARISON OF CAPTIVE AND WILD DINGO BEHAVIOUR

Photo: J. Philip

Healesville Sanctuary has five captive Dingoes (Canis lupus dingo), and Ms Justine Philip and Professor Dayanthi Nugegoda from RMIT University set out to discover just how similar the Sanctuary's Dingoes are to their wild relatives.

AIM

The project documented the distinguishing features and behaviours of Dingoes in captivity and the wild.

METHODS 

Watching from the edge of the Dingo enclosure at Healesville Sanctuary, the researchers recorded the behaviour of each pair of Dingoes over ten minute intervals for 7-8 hours a day in May 2009.

They also recorded the Dingoes' behaviour photographically, using a Nikon D700 digital camera and 70-200mm lens.

The researchers then constructed a written account of wild Dingo behaviour, and their role within human society before and after European contact.

RESULTS

The researchers found that the captive Dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary are active for approximately half the day (as compared to nearly two-thirds of the day for wild Dingoes (Corbett 1995)). Although less active than their wild counterparts, the Dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary respond rapidly to any change in their environment.  They work as a team to remain vigilant, with at least one of the Dingoes remaining on watch while the other sleeps, and they swap roles.

Although they don't need to need to hunt or defend territory, the Dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary still display characteristic behaviours seen in the wild such as territory marking.  They also have a complex communication system, more like that of a wolf than dog, which includes body language, howling, sneezing and bark-like vocals (Miklosi 2007).

CONCLUSIONS

Dingoes are highly independent and behave very differently to domestic dogs, even when living in captivity.  The Dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary don't need to hunt, but they still retain an irreversible prey drive and are highly in-tune with their environment. They are very gentle with their keepers and enjoy contact with familiar people, but they never become servile and are disinterested in the passing public.

Dingoes have co-habited with people in Australia for more than 4000 years, and are an integrated part of mainland Australian ecosystems.  They became important hunters and companions for Indigenous Australians, and their constant alertness to their environment would have helped protect camps and settlements.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

- on dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary - click here.

- on dingoes more generally - see:

Corbett, L (1995). The Dingo in Australia and Asia. University of New South Wales Press Ltd, Sydney.
Miklosi, A (2007) Dog Behaviour, Evolution and Cognition. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Smith, B & Litchfield, C (2009) A review of the relationship between Indigenous Australians, dingoes (Canis dingo) and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Anthrozoos, 22 (2), p111-128.

- on threatened species and the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act 1998 - click here.

Dingoes use ground-raking as a visual and olfactory way of marking territories.

Photo: J. Philip