Dingo Facts!

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Dingo_Fraser_Is

Dingo Facts!

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Dingo, Canis lupus dingo, male. Photo taken by Glen Fergus cc2.5

Dingoes look very similar to domestic dogs. In fact, they are believed to be descended from semi-domesticated dogs that returned to the wild. They are found in Australia and Southeast Asia, living in vacant rabbit burrows or hollow logs that are close to a water source. Dingoes are adept at climbing, and they actually climb trees!

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Dingo with a dead fish, Fraser Island. Image credit: Marc Tarlock cc2.0

Dingoes have one of the most diverse diets of any animal, inluding over 170 species of prey types — from insects to buffaloes, and they will also scavenge. They hunt tirelessly through vast areas of land, mostly at night. With smaller prey, they can hunt individually, but when they are targeting larger animals, they hunt in a pack. If the meal is more than they can consume in one feeding, they bury the leftovers to dig up later.





 

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Dingo pups by Inugami-bargho PD image

Due to the dryness of their environment, dingoes have had to adapt to conserve water. When feeding pups, the female will sometimes eat the pups’ droppings to obtain some of the moisture needed to develop milk. Old or weak animals are sometimes kept away from water and food sources, to provide more water for the other, healthier ones.

Dingo pack
Dingo pack. A male dingo with pups. Image credit: PartnerHund.com cc2.0

Like other wild dogs, dingoes live in packs, and the dominant pair tends to mate for life. Sometimes they can even die mourning the loss of their mate. Usually only the dominant pair reproduces, having litters of one to ten pups, which the entire pack helps to raise.

Dingo as a pet
Dingo as a pet. Image credit: PartnerHund.com cc2.0

If a dingo is well-trained and properly cared for, it can make a great pet. It must be adopted at the right age, however, to be receptive to training. The right age seems to be 6 weeks old, and certainly those above the age of 10 weeks should never be taken out of their wild habitat.

Dingoes are also mentioned in:
Top 11 Most Dangerous Desert Animals!

Dingoes are featured in the following books:
25 Desert Animals
25 Top Predators in the World
25 Australian Animals
101 Facts… Desert Animals
101 Facts… Wild Dogs, Wolves and Foxes!




The YouTube video below is a collection of videos about Dingoes. The list of videos featured is underneath.

The Playlist:

  1. Wallaroo vs dingo – BBC wildlife
  2. The endangered Australian dingo (wild dog) by AnthonyFrancisHoy
  3. Dingo vs. Kangaroo by NationalGeographic

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