Common no longer: A dingo reclines at Perth Zoo.

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SYDNEY: Dingoes may have a major role in conserving native Australian wildlife, say biologists who are calling for their reintroduction.

Though the species is an introduced predator itself and has faced widespread persecution by farmers, experts now believe it has a vital part to play in suppressing runaway fox and cat populations.

Since European settlement of Australia in 1788, the continent has lost 27 native species and subspecies of mammals, the highest rate of loss in the world, said ecologist Chris Dickman of the University of Sydney. A wealth of evidence implicates the red fox and domestic cat as a major cause of many of these declines.

"To say the [red fox and cat] have obliterated native mammals is an understatement – there are no words to describe it," he said. "The dingo could be one mechanism to control this."

"Native mammal obliteration"

Speaking today at the 2007 Biodiversity Extinction Crisis Conference held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Dickman revealed data showing that in many areas - surrounding major Australian sheep farming regions - "where dingoes occur there are no foxes."

Dickman's research in a 325,000 km² area of rangelands in New South Wales suggests that careful management and re-introduction of the dingo into what he referred to as a "conservation wasteland" could benefit 21 threatened species of mammals that still exist.

Other research has shown a correlation between dingoes and low fox numbers on either side of 5,000-kilometre-long 'dingo-proof 'fence constructed by Australian state governments to exclude the dogs from sheep farming areas. The barrier runs through the arid inland of South Australia, New South Wales and into Queensland.

Dingoes are rare inside the fence, but Mike Letnic of the University of Sydney's Institute of Wildlife Research has found that foxes are anywhere from seven to 20 times more abundant than they are on the outside. Other evidence is also stacking up that small native mammals are more abundant and successful in areas where the dingo has not been wiped out all across Australia.

Restoring the top dog

Al Glen of the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation, also speaking at the conference, said that in reintroducing the dingo, we would simply be restoring a predator-prey balance that was lost to Australia when the natural top predator, the thylacine, became extinct on the mainland 2,000 years ago.

"When the top predator is taken out of the system, subordinate predators increase in number" he said.

While dingoes hunt foxes and cats for food they also exclude them by competing for resources such as dens, said Glen.

Any decision to reintroduce dingoes to areas where they have been extirpated, would be a big step. For many years there has been continued debate over whether the dingo should be regarded as an introduced pest or a native animal, as it was introduced itself by Asian seafarers 4,000 years ago. The confusion has meant that dingo controls in areas such as the Northern Territory's Tanami Desert, have been followed by a rapid invasion of foxes and subsequent die-off of native mammals.

Further confusion over the distinctions between wild dogs, which are often classed as pests; and dingoes, which are classed as native species, exacerbates the problem said Brad Nesbitt of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The challenge for wildlife managers is to identify dingoes from wild dogs and hybrids, he said.

Rural opposition

Still, the experts agree that they must proceed cautiously. Not least because they will "undoubtedly face opposition from the rural sector" said Dickman.

He suggested that farmers could keep "watch animals" such as donkeys, alpacas and llamas, which make a lot of noise when agitated, and which also attack predators, protecting livestock.

Government compensation schemes for farmers who have lost livestock to reintroduced coyotes in the U.S. have also proved very effective, he said.

Nevertheless dingo reintroduction may only be suitable as a conservation measure in some areas, added Glen, particularly arid regions.

Further research is required, however, to test the viability of the approach. "If we are thinking about this seriously we must conduct the experiments to get the quantifiable evidence for the benefits," said Dickman.