In Australia, the cessation of the organized harassment of dingoes is being considered, so that these dogs will be used instead of the super predators that have disappeared in Australia
The dingo Canis lupus dingo is the Australian wild dog. Not exactly, since it originated from domesticated dogs that were brought to the southern continent by its settlers. About 4000 years ago, "sailors" and their domesticated dogs arrived on the continent (from Southeast Asia). Over the years, the dogs "became wild" and because of their isolation from the original population, an "intermediate" subspecies was created, a subspecies that is between the wolf and the domesticated dog.
The dingoes (like wolves) live in a pack and so do predators - and eat carcasses, unlike the wolves all the adult females in the pack can give birth - each female gives birth to up to four cubs every year, a social trait that made their breeding possible despite the difficult conditions.
Nature conservation authorities around the world are trying to remove dogs (and other animals) that have "gotten away" from the natural environmental system as these are considered "invasive species". As throughout the world, so too in Australia, the dingoes were considered invaders whose place in the system is not natural. In addition to this, since the settlement of the white man in Australia (about 200 years ago), the dingo dogs have been sworn enemies of the farmers who raised herds of sheep, domestic animals that were easy prey for the dingo. In addition, from time to time we hear about dingoes that have attacked children (?) Therefore, for about two hundred years, dingoes have been shot, captured, poisoned and harassed in every way. When the attitude is that where there are dingoes it is impossible to succeed in raising sheep. Now a change is emerging, a change in attitude and perhaps the cessation of harassment.
In the last one hundred and fifty years, Australia has lost 20 species of marsupial mammals that distinguish the fauna of the continent, (a number that represents about half of the mammals that have gone extinct in the last two hundred years in the entire world!) The population of many others is collapsing and many species are on the verge of extinction. The blame was mainly placed on invasive species Imported by the white man: foxes - imported to be used for the "hunting sport" and multiplied uncontrollably, domestic cats that "became arrogant", rats and others, all of them "raided" the special fauna and flora and harmed it, destroying it without restraint.
Simultaneously with the invasion, the super predators: the pocket wolf and the pocket lion, disappeared from the Australian landscape. A number of researchers published a proposal for a different management of the dingo population, the publication appeared in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
According to the new approach: easing the extermination pressure on the dingo in parts of Australia will help renew and strengthen native populations of marsupials. This is because the dingoes fulfill in nature the role of the super-predators that have disappeared, which means that today the dingoes are the super-predators of Australia. Super predators regulate the prey population, thinning out the weak and sick and thus creating healthy populations.
In the case of the dingo, in addition to the role of the top predator, they are a factor that dilutes/reduces the populations of the rats, foxes, cats, goats and pigs that have "gotten wild" and thus prevent the over-killing of small and medium-sized marsupials. According to the scientific community, it is worthwhile to conduct an experiment on a larger scale, an experiment in which the harassment of dingoes in large areas will be stopped, large areas will be declared "wild areas" where the dingoes will be considered an organic part of the natural environment. The assumption is that as a result of the cessation of harassment, there will be a sharp decrease in the population of foxes and cats, such a decrease will change the picture of extermination (of pocket mammals).
It is clear that in order to realize this approach, the consent of farmers is necessary, it will be difficult to convince sheep farmers to agree, it will be easier to convince cattle farmers, since according to the researchers, the dingoes will prefer to hunt kangaroos, rabbits, pigs and goats, animals that for the farmers are competition for pasture, mature cows are not In danger, there is a risk of calf predation, but this is a risk whose cost must be calculated against the gain in benefit to the environment from the presence of a super predator. Now we are waiting for the response of the farmers' organizations.
Australian National Farmers' Federation.
Addendum/last thing, on a local/personal note: many years ago I proposed to the "authority" to declare a herd of cows that "brought out" in the southern Dead Sea as protected animals, the herd was a mixture of Brahma-Afrikandar- and Turkish cows and developed adaptation to life (natural / Independents) in the proper salting of the square, my proposal was not considered and was not accepted... the cows were hunted and slaughtered by the (new) settlers in the squares. It can be hoped that the fate of the dingoes will be different.
Dr. Assaf Rosenthal,
Tour guide/leader in Africa and South America.
For details: Tel. 0505640309 / 077-6172298,
Email: assaf@eilatcity.co.il
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And we are wise: "...Maybe the DINGO ate your baby"
There are ancient models from the XNUMXs that pretend to calculate the state of the population while taking into account the carrying capacity of the area, the reproduction rate of the prey, the reproduction rate of the predator and the efficiency of the predation. I don't know how well these relatively simple models reflect reality and if there are new models that are more stylish and sharper. Your proposal makes some sense as you explain in this short article. However, it must be remembered that there are reasons for the destruction of those twenty marsupials you mentioned. In general, the destruction of species happens all the time and the reasons for this are various and varied. I guess they don't just focus on the environmental super predator. There are situations where the predator culture is too large per generation in relation to the rate of growth in the generation of the prey and then there can be a total collapse of the unbalanced system.
As top predators that can hunt and eat a wide variety of animals, the dingoes can "afford" to destroy, for example, the kangaroos (for example) which may be easier to find and catch, and after the population of the latter disappears start feeding on the next thing that is easiest to catch and devour. Therefore it is a bit problematic to simply allow the super predator to balance itself and the environment. It's a bit like letting the cat keep the cream.
The matter of cows in the prairie is a bit different - since cows are not a top predator. In such a case there is a stronger internal logic to allow the population that has acclimatized to wild life to try and establish a stable population.