Posted on 07/02/2015 9:33:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
THEY cannot open their eyes yet but these oh-so-cute dingo pups and their offspring may hold the key to their species’ very survival.
Bred in captivity at the Australian Reptile Park to resident dingoes Adina, 12 months, and two-year-old Fred, the litter of five pups is part of a concerted effort to ensure the nation’s iconic top order predator does not go the way of the Tasmanian tiger.
“The dingo plays a very important role in the Australian ecosystem,” the zoo’s general manager Tim Faulkner said.
“Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate on earth due to habitat distribution, agriculture, and most importantly, feral foxes and cats feeding on mammals that are in the critical weight range of 5kg or less.
“Dingoes are being blasted, baited, tracked, shot and hunted in the wild because of their perceived damage to agriculture.’’
The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner presenter said dingoes hunted large prey like kangaroos allowing smaller mammals like endangered bandicoots to thrive.
“However, killing dingoes removes them from the critical weight ecosystem, allowing feral foxes and cats to continuously increase the rate of mammal extinction,’’ he said.
“If dingoes continue to be hunted, Australia will see another endangered species disappear, just like the Tasmanian tiger, a marsupial which shared a similar role in the environment as the dingo.
“The Tasmanian tiger disappeared from Australian soil on September 7, 1936, a date now known as the annual National Threatened Species Day.’’
Typically, a dingo breeding cycle is expected to yield two or three pups with Adina and Fred exceeding expectations giving birth last week to three boys and two girls.
The pups will be fully reliant on their mother for another three weeks before they start taking their first tentative steps outside their man-made den and begin exploring their enclosure.
During the school holidays the zoo will hold daily conservation shows with the pups to highlight the dingo’s plight in the wild.
It comes as some of Australia’s leading conservationists prepare to meet for the first Threatened Species Summit in Melbourne next month.
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said there were more than 1750 mammal, bird, reptile, fish, frog, insect and plant species now at risk and Australia could not afford for their population declines to continue.
The government has committed to setting a target of ending the loss of any further mammal species by 2020 and turn around the trajectories of 20 threatened mammals before then.
It has also committed more than $76 million in threatened species projects and research, including a $30 million Threatened Species Recovery Hub under the National Environmental Science Program.
“I am deeply passionate about protecting Australia’s threatened species,’’ Mr Hunt said.
“Last year, we appointed Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner, who is taking a leading role in raising awareness and working to protect our threatened species. We have also established the Threatened Species Advisory Committee bringing together Australia’s top experts on issues facing our native species.’’
Beautiful animals.
That was quick
that’s the first thing that came to mind :)
Where do they think the Heeler came from? Endangered my ass!
Will the person who maintains the Dog ping list, please pick up the white courtesy phone?
Ping
This is a hilarious article. The “native” dingo is no such thing. It arrived tens of thousands of years ago along with the first human immigrants.
The two species then worked together to wipe out all of Australia’s megafauna species.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/dreamtime-animals/achenbach-text
Pretty much what happened in Madagascar, New Zealand and perhaps in the Americas when humans showed up.
FIVE DINGOS?! ALRIGHT! I could stay A BIT longer!!!!
Beautiful dog. It looks like a dog that bred with a fox.
puppehs ...
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