Dingo Genetics

What is a Dingo?

This question has pestered land managers for years. Is a dingo a native species, does it help protect our native wildlife from foxes and cats? These questions are made all the more difficult to answer because dingoes hybridise with domestic dogs, so it’s hard to tell what a dingo really is. Feral dogs behave differently to dingoes. So if we don’t know what a dingo is, or how “pure” it is, how do we manage it?

We are working with researchers at the University of Sydney and using new technology whole-genome DNA to help answer this question. Our research will provide a wealth of new information to define whether a dingo is pure and what that means, and also on where the dingo came from and if it should be classes as a different species to the domestic dog. Researchers have so far donated a stack of time and expertise to this project and we have some very encouraging results.
Old DNA tests used only a handful of markers, we now have thousands that will give us high quality information. Our results have been excellent and we are now waiting on some extra funds to scale up the project. If you can help, please donate now to help us answer these very important questions.