Wild dog problem...

Wild dogs are becoming more of a problem in the areas surrounding where I live. Reports of stock losses appear bi-weekly in the local paper. A few years ago I was camping in a nearby old growth eucalyptus forests and was astounded at the amount of dog droppings filled with marsupial fur littering the pathways through the area. One night my camp was surrounded by a pack of dogs I think attracted by a combination of curiosity and the smells of cooking food.

It was quite a frightening experience as these animals had no real fear of my presence at all. I thought of just how easily I could have become just another feed for a hungry pack. They stayed on the perimeter of my small camp for 10 to 15 minutes and then with a bark from one of the dogs all raced off into the distance till they were out of sight. Some of these dogs were simply huge and were more than likely hybrids of the local Dingo and introduced canines. I suspect the gene pool had been enhanced by hunting dogs lost by their (pig hunting) owners whilst illegally hunting in the national park. There has been a surge of inter-breeding by hunters of dog breeds such as pit-bulls, bull mastiffs and other large hunting type breeds intermingling with both native dogs and other feral dogs alike.

Sadly this situation has all but bred out the pure blood Dingo although I did see one recently briefly whilst driving through the Namadgi National Park last year. It looked pretty pure to me, right colour, size, with a shorter tail, all the attributes of a real pure blood. All around Australia attempts are being made to keep pure blood populations separated from domestic dogs in an attempt to save the unique species.

Calls are being made to introduce aerial baiting of 1080 poison and although this has proved to be effective in the past for feral dogs, foxes and cats, it is also the demise of other carnivorous species such as the native Quoll. I think cage trapping and professional shooters are a more viable option for the eradication of the feral species, that and responsible ownership of domesticated dogs that are lost on hunting expeditions or simply left to roam in towns nearby to bushland...