‘Dingoes were here first’: the landowners who say letting ‘wild dogs’ live pays dividends

Sun, 4 Jul 2021 06:14:52 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/21/dingoes-were-here-first-the-landowners-who-say-letting-wild-dogs-live-pays-dividends>

"How to treat dingoes – and whether to even acknowledge they exist – is an
issue that divides Australians. It splits ecologists from government
agriculture departments and, in some cases, neighbours from each other.

It also separates the country in a literal sense. The world’s longest fence – a
5,600km barrier in place since the late 19th century – runs from western SA
through the Strzelecki Desert and across southern Queensland in an attempt to
keep dingoes away from grazing land in the south-east.

“Wild dogs” are targeted by landowners on both sides of the fence, encouraged
by state governments that offer bounties and other support for their
elimination. From Queensland’s Channel Country, through the South Australian
outback to less remote parts of Victoria, it is not unusual to see carcasses
hanging from trees and roadsigns.

There is an obvious reason for this: dingoes kill sheep and other livestock,
sometimes in significant numbers. But conservation scientists say there is
growing evidence to suggest a different approach to dealing with dingoes can be
both an environmental and economic winner."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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