Fraser Coast Dingos

Canis familiaris (breed Dingo) Australia's Wild Dog.

Extensive DNA studies and genome sequencing has shown what common sense has been telling us all along, the Dingo an ancient breed of domestic dog, Canis familiaris (breed Dingo), for the most part now feral and not a separate subspecies (Canis lupus dingo) as some information is still saying.

The dogs were most likely introduced to Australia, by Asian seafarers, about 4,000 years ago with the earliest undisputed archaeological finding 3,250 years ago (Balme et al. 2018). Using the example of foxes in Australia, it’s estimated the dog’s population could have covered the majority of the country in under 100 years after going feral. Sister populations with DNA close enough to be the same breed are found in Papua New Guinea, Bali, Israel and remnant clusters Chennai and Deli in India.

Many aboriginal communities across Australia had domestic dingos up until recent times. They were companion dog and widely used as breathing hot water bottles. This where the term 3 dog night came from to refer to a very cold night. This would have been the case in the Great Sandy Region. Artefacts include talismans and ornaments made of canine teeth, bones and fur; rain incarnations and love charms. with dingo teeth, provided protection for the spirit in the afterlife. Feral dingos were also used as a food source.

Of note once turned wild the dingo has proved very hard to tame and re-domesticate with the best results coming from young pups.

The Island.

The first known Europeans to the island were Portuguese arriving in the early 16th century to explore this area which at the time was nominally Spanish territory. Then the Dutch and later the English. None of the DNA research show slinks to these countries. However, the Portuguese did sail out of Indonesia where there are still isolated dingo populations. But other research indicates the dogs were on the island well before this.

The dingos were most likely bought to the island as domestic dogs around 3,500 years ago by the original tribes Ngulungbara to the north, Dulingbara to the south and then Badjala (Butchulla) moving in to the ‘no man’s land’ in the centre. The Dulingbara occupied areas of Cooloola on the mainland and the Badjala inhabited land near Maryborough.  The dogs were known as Wat’dha and Wongari by the aboriginals

Seasonal migration between the mainland and the island was large with winter being the most popular due to the abundance of mullet. Ngulungbara people built tidal fish traps.  All three tribes spoke similar language which were variants of what is now called Gubbi Gubbi. It’s most probable that these people brought the dogs to the island.

Some reports suggest wild dingos swam to the island. Others say it is unlikely a feral breeding pair or pregnant female swam a few kilometres to the K’gari, Fraser Island.

After nearly 50 years of massacres and hunts in 1904 the last Aboriginals were marched to Yarrabah near Cairns and to Cherbourg. All surviving dogs on the island at this point became wild dogs.

Humane Interaction (opinion)

The current ‘live and let die’ policy of the Queensland Government does not sit well with me. Humans have a long history of humane interactions with all kinds of animals domestic and wild.

Many of these interactions have been beneficial to both humans and the animals. We look after sick and injured wild life, we have protected even fenced area to ensure the wellbeing of everything from Dunnarts to Spotted Quolls.  Breeding programs and animal shelters are everywhere. This is very different for the Fraser dingos, deprived of much of their traditional food and habitat.

On my early visits to the island rangers would take kids down to nurse the wild dingo pups. Many of the dogs were fed by local and visitors. They would scavenge camps and picnic spots and the fishermen would leave their fish frames for a bit of tasty omega 3. The dogs certainly looked much healthier than mangy specimens you see on the island now.  

Wild dingos are now a natural part of Fraser Island and we need to implement better strategies.  To achieve that we must get dingoes back to the role they fitted into so comfortably for thousands of years, coexisting with humans but being wary of them.

Prior to 1998 dingo attacks on the island were extremely rare with most attacks being on the mainland. Since then, dingo attacks on the island account for over 80% of all reported attacks across the country. It’s no coincidence that the live and let die laws were bought in as knee jerk reaction to one attack at the end of the last century.

Note: In researching this article, I came across many conflicting stories, with some online encyclopedias and the ‘Queensland Environment’ sites contradicting themselves.

Jim Upton