10 Interesting Facts About Australian Dingoes

Only 10% are thoroughbred
Today the Australian Dingo is faced with extinction: about 90 percent of animals called dingo living in the Australian hinterland or in rural areas has been interbreeded with dogs (tame or wild).

Real dingo originates from wolves
Dingo is an wild animal that originates from wolves and; judging by the found fossils; has reached to Australia at least 3,500-4,000 years ago. The real dingo does not bark and has young only once a year. Most likely, the dingo is a descendant of the Indian gray wolf (Canis lupus pallipes).

Brink of extinction
Extinction of the dingo in the wild is considered inevitable. They are on the brink of extinction. Most people think that there are a lot dingoes; but in reality it is a hybrid dogs rather than pure dingo dogs.

Wild animal
Dingo is a breed that has never been domesticated, like a wolf, true wild animal. This is partly due to its isolation in distant areas, but also because of non-interference of man.

You can find it everywhere
Dingo accommodate all types of habitats. In Australia, it resides in the deserts and semi-deserts and meadows. It may also be found in the mountains and forests.

They kill young
Unlike the wolf packs, in which the dominant animals prevent subordinates to mate, the alpha dingo prevents reproduction of subordinate individuals by killing their young.

Diet of dingo
Were more than 170 different species in Australia that are included in the diet of dingo, from insect to a water buffalo. Dingo usually hunts alone, when it attacks small prey like rabbits, while large prey such as kangaroos and wild boar hunts in groups. Sometimes chasing domestic cattle during the seasonal shortage of other prey.

Name “dingo”
The name “dingo” comes from the Aboriginal language euros, spoken by the natives in the area around Sydney. New Guinea singing dog is also classified as Canis lupus dingo.

Dog fence
In Australia there are so-called “dog fence”, fence stretching from the Great Australian Bay on the south to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Queensland. Its length is about 5400 km / 3350 mi (2.5 times longer than the Great Wall of China), and serves to defend the flock of sheep from predators; especially from dingo.