Research
The NWDAP supports strategic, consistent, scientific, risk-based humane approaches to planning and managing the impacts of wild dogs. Please find below a list of some of the scientific research that underpins wild dog control. The reference list will be updated as new information becomes available.
Scientific evidence
Wild dog management and impacts on livestock production
Investigating predator management in a farming and agricultural context. Tracey Kreplins 2024
Why humans kill animals and why we cannot avoid. it Benjamin L. Allen, Christopher Bobier, Stuart Dawson, Peter J.S. Fleming, Jordan Hampton, David Jachowski, Graham I.H. Kerley, John D.C. Linnell, Kelly Marnewick, Liaan Minnie, Mike Muthersbaugh, M. Justin O’Riain, Dan Parker, Gilbert Proulx, Michael J. Somers, Keifer Titus. 2023
Rangelands of central-western Queensland – Building resilient and diverse livestock production systems. Bowen and Chudleigh 2021
Social impacts of wild dogs—a review of literature. Thompson, Aslin, Ecker, Please and Trestrail 2013
Constantly chasing dogs: assessing landholder stress from wild dog attacks on livestock using quantitative and qualitative methods. Ecker, Please and Mayberry 2016
Review of Canid Management in Australia for the: Protection of Livestock and Wildlife — Potential Application to Coyote Management. Lee and Fleming 2004
Managing the impacts of dingoes and other wild dogs. (Bureau of Rural Resources: Canberra) Fleming, Corbett, Harden, Thomson 2001
Aerial baiting and wild dog mortality in south-eastern Australia. Ballard, Fleming, Meek and Doak 2020
Predation of livestock by wild dogs in eastern New South Wales. Fleming and Korn 1989
Cost of Pest Animals in NSW and Australia, 2013-14. eSys Development Pty Ltd
Major Economic Costs Associated with Wild Dogs in the Queensland Grazing Industry. Hewitt 2009
Animal behaviour and calf mortalities in a north Queensland breeding herd. Rankine, Donaldson 1968
The Effectiveness of Aerial Baiting for the Control of Dingoes in North-Western Australia. Thompson 1986
The Roles for the Canidae in food webs reviewed: Where do they fit? Fleming, Nolan, Jackson, Ballard, Bengsen, Brown, Meek, Mifsud, Pal and Sparkes 2017
Invasive species and their impacts on agri-ecosystems: issues and solutions for restoring ecosystem processes. Fleming, Ballard, Reid and Tracey 2017
Baiting for wild dogs and foxes has no impact on quoll populations
Lethal control of eutherian predators via aerial baiting does not negatively affect female spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus) and their pouch young. Claridge, Ballard, Körtner, Fleming, Forge and Hine (2021) Wildlife Research
Aerial baiting for wild dogs has no observable impact on spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) in a rain shadow woodland. Claridge and Mills 2007
The propensity of spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) to encounter and consume non-toxic meat baits in a simulated canid-control program. Claridge, Murray, Dawson, Poore, Mifsud and Saxon 2006
Niche overlap between marsupial and eutherian carnivores: does competition threaten the endangered spotted-tailed quoll? Glen and Dickman 2008
The immediate impact of 1080 aerial baiting to control wild dogs on a spotted-tailed quoll population. Körtner and Watson 2005
Aerial baiting for feral cats is unlikely to affect survivorship of northern quolls in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Cowan et al. 2020
Can wild dogs control feral cats and foxes?
Red foxes avoid apex predators without increasing fear. Wooster, Ramp, Lundgren, O’Neill & Wallach May 2021
The Wily and Courageous Red Fox: Behavioural Analysis of a Mesopredator at Resource Points Shared by an Apex Predator. Wooster, Wallach & Ramp 2019
Fighting like cats and dogs? Dingoes do not constrain spatial and temporal movements of feral cats. Kreplins, Kennedy, Adams, Dundas and Fleming 2020
Canids potentially threaten bilbies at Astrebla Downs National Park. Augusteyn, Rich, Story and Allen 2020
Diet of dingoes and cats in Central Australia: does trophic competition underpin a rare mammal refuge? McDonald, Box, Nano, McDonald and Dickman 2018
As clear as mud: A critical review of evidence for the ecological roles of Australian dingoes. Allen, Fleming, Allen, Engeman, Ballard and Leung 2013
Intraguild relationships between sympatric predators exposed to lethal control: predator manipulation experiments. Allen, Allen, Engeman and Leung 2013
Dingo control doesn’t hurt native wildlife: largest Australian study. Allen 2014
Do introduced apex predators suppress introduced mesopredators? A multiscale spatiotemporal study of dingoes and feral cats in Australia suggests not. Fancourt, Cremasco, Wilson and Gentle 2020
Cats are not scared off by dingoes: we must find another way to protect native animals. Fancourt 2020
Habitat structural complexity explains patterns of feral cat and dingo occurrence in monsoonal Australia. Stobo-Wilson et al. 2020
Relative influence of habitat structure, species interactions and rainfall on the post-fire population dynamics of ground-dwelling vertebrates. Arthur, Catling and Reid 2012
Trends in the activity levels of forest-dwelling vertebrate fauna against a background of intensive baiting for foxes. Claridge, Cunningham, Catling and Reid 2010
Trophic cascades and dingoes in Australia: Does the Yellowstone wolf–elk–willow model apply? Morgan, Hunter, Ballard, Reid and Fleming 2017
The trophic cascades concept may constrain Australian dingo reintroduction experiments: A response to Newsome et al. Morgan, Hunter, Ballard and Fleming 2017
Estimating macropod grazing density and defining activity patterns using camera trap image analysis. Morgan, Ballard, Fleming, Reid, van der Ven and Vernes 2018
Macroecological patterns in mammal abundances provide evidence that an apex predator shapes forest ecosystems by suppressing herbivore and mesopredator abundance. Colman, Crowther and Letnic 2015
Lethal control of an apex predator has unintended cascading effects on forest mammal assemblages. Colman, Gordon, Crowther and Letnic 2014
Will dingoes really conserve wildlife and can our methods tell? Hayward and Marlow 2014
Evidence that dingoes limit abundance of a mesopredator in eastern Australian forests. Johnson and van der Wal 2009
Removal of an apex predator initiates a trophic cascade that extends from herbivores to vegetation and the soil nutrient pool. Morris and Letnic 2017
Predator control promotes invasive dominated ecological states. Wallach, Johnson, Ritchie and O’Neill 2010
Sodium fluoroacetate and non-target concerns
A Model for assessing the relative humanness of pest animal control methods. Sharp & Saunders 2011
Perception of pain associated with 1080 poisoning. Gregory 1996
Aerial baiting with 1080 to control wild dogs does not affect the populations of two common small mammal species. Fenner, Körtne ,and Vernes 2009
The effect on Australian Animals from 1080 Baiting Campaigns. McIllroy 1992
The Effect of Rainfall and Blowfly Larvae on the Toxicity of ‘1080’-Treated Meat Baits Used in Poisoning Campaigns Against Wild Dogs. McIllroy, Gifford and Carpenter 1988
Tolerance to Sodium Monofluoroacetate in Dasyurids from Western Australia. King, Twigg and Gardener 1989
Dingo predation and its impact on rare and threatened native fauna
Stuck in the mud: Persistent failure of ‘the science’ to provide reliable information on the ecological roles of Australian dingoes. Castle G, Kennedy Malcolm S, Allen Benjamin L. 2023
Animal welfare considerations for using large carnivores and guardian dogs as vertebrate biocontrol tools against other animals. Benjamin L. Allen , Lee R. Allen, Guy Ballard, Marine Drouilly, Peter J.S. Fleming, Jordan O. Hampton, Matthew W. Hayward, Graham I.H. Kerley, Paul D. Meek, Liaan Minnie, M. Justin O’Riain, Daniel M. Parker, Michael J. Somers 2019
Genetic sampling identifies canid predators of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in peri-urban areas. Gentle, Allen, Oakey, Speed, Harriott, Loader, Robbins, de Villiers, and Hanger C 2019
Management of multiple threats achieves meaningful koala conservation outcomes. Beyer, de Villiers, Loader, Robbins, Stigner, Forbes, and Hanger 2018
Lethal control of eutherian predators via aerial baiting does not negatively affect female spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus) and their pouch young. Claridge, Ballard, Körtner, Fleming, Forge and Hine 2021
Insights into size, seasonality and biology of a nesting population of the Olive Ridley turtle in northern Australia. Scott, Whiting, Long, Hadden, Lauder Koch 2007
The diets of cats, foxes and dingoes in relation to prey availability in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory. Paltridge 2002
Reintroducing the dingo: the risk of dingo predation to threatened vertebrates of western New South Wales. Allen and Fleming 2012
Canids potentially threaten bilbies at Astrebla Downs National Park. Augusteyn, Rich, Story and Allen 2020
Predator swamping and supplementary feeding do not improve reintroduction success for a threatened Australian mammal, Bettongia lesueur. Bannister, Lynch and Moseby 2017
Seven considerations about dingoes as biodiversity engineers: the socioecological niches of dogs in Australia. Fleming, Allen and Ballard 2012
Out of the frying pan: Reintroduction of toad-smart northern quolls to southern Kakadu National Park. Jolly, Kelly, Gillespie, Phillips and Webb 2017
The dingo as a species or just another dog
The dingo is an ancient type of domestic dog – AMTC position statement on the taxonomy of the dingo. 1st June 2024
Ancient genomes reveal over two thousand years of dingo population structure. Souilmia, Y et al. 2024.
Genome-wide variant analyses reveal new patterns of admixture and population structure in Australian dingoes. Kylie M. Cairns, Mathew S. Crowther, Heidi G. Parker, Elaine A. Ostrander, Mike Letnic 2023
An isolated population reveals greater genetic structuring of the Australian dingo. Stephens, Fleming et al. 2022
The myth of wild dogs in Australia: are there any out there? Cairns et al. 2021
The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or dingo a distinct species? Jackson et al. 2017
The Dogma of Dingoes – Taxonomic status of the dingo: A reply to Smith et al. Jackson et al. 2019
Taxonomic status of the Australian dingo: the case for Canis dingo. Meyer, 1793. Smith et al. 2018
Death by sex in and Australian icon. A continent-wide survey reveals extensive hybridization between dingoes and domestic dogs. Stephens et al. 2015
An evaluation of genetic analyses, skull morphology and visual appearance for assessing dingo purity: implications for dingo conservation. Elledge, Allen, Carlsson, Wilton and Leung, 2008
Dingoes, dogs and the feral identity. Fleming 2013
How long is a dingo’s tale?: Impacts of sampling design on our understanding of dingo ecology. Ballard, Fleming and Meek 2018