A new dingo study collates the results from over 5000 DNA samples of wild canines across Australia. It found that 99 per cent of animals tested were pure dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids — and that there were almost no feral dogs in the country.

The study, published today in Australian Mammalogy, collates the results from over 5000 DNA samples of wild canines across the country, making it the largest and most comprehensive dingo data set to date.

The team found that 99 per cent of wild canines tested were pure dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids (that is, a hybrid canine with more than 50 per cent dingo genes).

Of the remaining one per cent, roughly half were dog-dominant hybrids and the other half feral dogs.

«We don’t have a feral dog problem in Australia,» says Dr Kylie Cairns, a conservation biologist from UNSW Science and lead author of the study. «They just aren’t established in the wild.

«There are rare times when a dog might go bush, but it isn’t contributing significantly to the dingo population.»

The study builds on a 2019 paper by the team that found most wild canines in NSW are pure dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids. The newer paper looked at DNA samples from past studies across Australia, including more than 600 previously unpublished data samples.

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of New South Wales. Original written by Sherry Landow. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.