VICTORIA’S State Government has said it is not considering releasing additional dingoes in north-west Victoria, despite concerns the population is inbred and at risk of extinction without the introduction of new genetics.
Farmers have said the issue of the inbred north-west dingoes was raised at a dingo management review consultation session at Hopetoun, before an Agriculture Victoria webinar last week.
In the webinar last Friday, a ‘dingo science overview’ slide stated the ‘Mallee dingo sub-population is genetically isolated and inbred and on a trajectory that will likely lead to extinction.’
A Victorian Government spokesperson told Sheep Central the government is “making it a priority to consider the feedback from the community alongside scientific research and data, before we make any decision about how we balance dingo conservation and predation management going forward.”
“Given the extinction risk, conservation action is required to support the survival of the dingo population in north-west Victoria.
“Releasing additional dingoes into north west Victoria is not being considered by the government,” the spokesperson said.
During the webinar, executive director, regulatory policy and programs, and animal welfare Agriculture Victoria, Dr Trevor Pisciotta, said the Victorian Government is reviewing its approach to dingo management to balance its conservation with the protection of livestock.
And despite the government ending a wild dog/dingo unprotection order in north-west Victoria in March and denying control permits to sheep producers suffering increased attacks on their flocks, Dr Pisciotta said “no decision has been made by government around the settings that will be put in place from the 1st of October.”
He said the reason for the regional Victorian consultation sessions – held in the north-west, north-west and in Gippsland — and for the webinar, was to give an understanding of the department’s thinking and to hear other perspectives and give these to the government.
DEECA chief biodiversity officer and Arthur Rylah Institute director James Todd said new genetic science and recent research indicates there is no evidence of extensive and ongoing hybridisation between domestic dogs and dingoes in Victoria, and there are perhaps four dingo populations across Australia, including in central and western northern Australia, the eastern seaboard, south-eastern Australia and the Alps, and in north-west Victoria.
Mr Todd said the sampling from the wild dog program and genomic analysis also indicated that the state’s free-ranging dingo populations appear to be strongly maintaining their overall genetic integrity despite the potential for interaction with domestic dogs, but there is no evidence that there are established populations of feral dogs in the state.
“The research also indicates that there is some limited evidence of common genetic background between dogs and dingoes in free-ranging dingoes in Victoria, with an average of about less than 4 percent in eastern Victoria, so they’ve got about 4pc of their genetic makeup is shared across dingoes and dogs, but actually zero percent in the Mallee.
“It’s unknown what that’s about, but it’s suggesting that it may be due to shared ancestry coming from wolves initially … it also be about recent sharing of genetic material from arbitrary means, but in any event the percentages are very low.”
Mr Todd said the research shows that the Mallee population is genetically isolated.
“So it’s now quite separated from both the eastern population in Victoria and the desert population and is at risk of inbreeding, and if there is no new genetic material entering that population then it’s at risk of extinction.”
The webinar was told that camera surveys and modelling has estimated the eastern Victorian dingo population at 4900, within a (90pc credible interval) range of 2640-8880 animals. Dingo abundance in the Big Desert/Wyperfeld National Park is estimated to be 110 within a (90pc credible interval) range of 40-230 animals.
In answer to a question, Mr Todd said he is not aware of any work done on determining what is a sustainable dingo population in north-west Victoria.
“We don’t know the answer to that at this stage.”
Thanks for keeping us livestock farmers up to date on the issue. It is only a few weeks and we will know the outcome. Lets hope common sense prevails and the wild dog control program is continued on for another five years in the north-east and Gippsland region.
In north-east Victoria — my backyard — dingoes are not an endangered species.
Livestock farmers are endangered. Labor hates farmers.