Dingo

 

Well, here we are at another Monday and time to look at another wild dog, this week it is the Australian Dingo.

Dingoes have a lifespan from as few as 3yrs to usually around 16yrs but some have been known to live for 20yrs.

The dingo is an ancient lineage of dog found in Australia, however, compared with the skull of the dog, the dingo possesses a longer muzzle, longer carnassial teeth, longer and more slender canine teeth, larger auditory bullae, a flatter cranium with a larger sagittal crest, and larger nuchal lines.

The dingo's three main coat colourations are light ginger or tan, black and tan, or creamy white. The skull is wedge-shaped and appears large in proportion to the body.

The dingo is closely related to the New Guinea singing dog. The oldest remains of dingoes in Australia are around 3,500 years old.

A dingo pack usually consists of a mated pair, their offspring from the current year, and sometimes offspring from the previous year.

Dingoes do not bark like a dog but howl, chortle, yelp, whine, growl, chatter, snort, cough and purr.

Dingoes are largely terrestrial carnivores they have a broad diet including fresh meat, fish, eggs and carrion they occasionally eat plants and fruits. They're opportunistic hunters but will also scavenge food. The bulk of their diet is made up of meat: they eat kangaroos, wallabies, feral pigs, wombats, small mammals (rabbits, rodents), birds and lizards.

Their strong jaw and large canines permit the dingo to procure and machinate rather tough prey, allowing them to tear meat from carcasses and crush bones to obtain calcium and fat.

Dingoes have a strict social hierarchy and regularly mate for life. Female dingoes have one annual breeding cycle, March to June. The dingo pack helps with the rearing of pups which are weaned at about 2 months, at which time the pups may be abandoned or can stay with the parents for up to a year. Dingo pups are fully grown by 7 months.

They are primarily killed by humans, crocodiles, and sometimes by other canid species, such as jackals and domestic dogs. They are also killed by Dingoes from other packs. Pups may be taken by large birds of prey.

They are highly intelligent and intuitive animals that have a high capacity to solve problems and plan.

With this high intelligence and foresight comes a strong sense of self-awareness and independence.