Backbencher
Weblog for HIST 381 at NDSUFriday, January 27, 2006
Dingo Dog
The Dingo was named by the Eora Aboriginal tribe, who were the original inhabitants of the Sydney area. The Dingo was a type of wild dog, perhaps descending from the Indian wolf. It has been descibed as an Australian wild dog, but it is not restricted to Australia and it did not originate there. Modern Dingos are in Southeast Asia, in the remaining areas of natural forest and Dingos are found mostly in northern Australia.
Dingos have features that are found in wolves and dogs and vary in their coloring. Most Dingos are a ginger color, some have a reddish tint, some are sandy, yellow and even black, with their underside being a lighter shade. Most Dingos have white markings on their feet, tip of their tail and on their chest. Some Dingos have a black muzzle.
Dingos breed only once a year, have permanently erect ears and do not bark. Wild Dingos prey on small or medium-sized animals, but can take on lizards, rodents, sheep and kangaroos.
Dingos do not generally form packs, they prefer to travel in pairs, or family groups.
The earliest known Dingo skulls were found in Vietnam and are considered about 5,500 years old. The origin of the Dingo may be related to the wolves of south-west Asia and may have been in that area about the time humans developed agriculture. Dingos are thought to have been brought by Austonesian traders to the Aborigines, maybe as early as 3000BC! The Dingos spread across the Australian continent rather rapidily, probably with human assistance. Aboriginal people have adopted the Dingo as a companion animal, using it to help with hunting and used for their warmth on cold nights. In the 1880's the Great Dingo fence began being constructed. It would stretch 8500 kilometers and at the time would be the longest man-made structre in the owrld. However, it has proven to be only partly successful in its plan to keep the Dingos out of the fertile southeast part of Australia.Although the fence helped reduce losses of sheep to predators, it was counterbalanced by increased pasture competition from rabbits and kangaroos. Dingos have received bad press because of Dingo attacks on fraser Island. As a result of interbreeding with dogs, the purebred Dingo gene pool is being swamped and by 1990, 1/3 of all wild DIngos in the south-east were hybrids.
Suzanne Ready
The Dingo was named by the Eora Aboriginal tribe, who were the original inhabitants of the Sydney area. The Dingo was a type of wild dog, perhaps descending from the Indian wolf. It has been descibed as an Australian wild dog, but it is not restricted to Australia and it did not originate there. Modern Dingos are in Southeast Asia, in the remaining areas of natural forest and Dingos are found mostly in northern Australia.
Dingos have features that are found in wolves and dogs and vary in their coloring. Most Dingos are a ginger color, some have a reddish tint, some are sandy, yellow and even black, with their underside being a lighter shade. Most Dingos have white markings on their feet, tip of their tail and on their chest. Some Dingos have a black muzzle.
Dingos breed only once a year, have permanently erect ears and do not bark. Wild Dingos prey on small or medium-sized animals, but can take on lizards, rodents, sheep and kangaroos.
Dingos do not generally form packs, they prefer to travel in pairs, or family groups.
The earliest known Dingo skulls were found in Vietnam and are considered about 5,500 years old. The origin of the Dingo may be related to the wolves of south-west Asia and may have been in that area about the time humans developed agriculture. Dingos are thought to have been brought by Austonesian traders to the Aborigines, maybe as early as 3000BC! The Dingos spread across the Australian continent rather rapidily, probably with human assistance. Aboriginal people have adopted the Dingo as a companion animal, using it to help with hunting and used for their warmth on cold nights. In the 1880's the Great Dingo fence began being constructed. It would stretch 8500 kilometers and at the time would be the longest man-made structre in the owrld. However, it has proven to be only partly successful in its plan to keep the Dingos out of the fertile southeast part of Australia.Although the fence helped reduce losses of sheep to predators, it was counterbalanced by increased pasture competition from rabbits and kangaroos. Dingos have received bad press because of Dingo attacks on fraser Island. As a result of interbreeding with dogs, the purebred Dingo gene pool is being swamped and by 1990, 1/3 of all wild DIngos in the south-east were hybrids.
Suzanne Ready
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