Hi All,
New here but I have done significant research regarding the Big Desert dingo population and they are very close to being wiped out. As for the rest of Victoria, the most recent genetic research released last year in May by Dr Kylie Cairns suggests that close to 90% of "wild dogs" in Victoria are actually pure dingo and the remaining are more than 55% dingo (6.5% tested were 93% or over, 6.5% were between 55 and 93% dingo and 87% were pure)
People need to remember these animals are a native species at federal level in every mainland state (regardless of whether or not they're a declared pest species). They are also culturally significant to many First Nations peoples. They play an important ecological role as the country's apex predator. This is the first time since colonisation that dingoes have been protected on private land!!
Dingoes are responsible for less than 0.5% of livestock losses! With exposure being one if the biggest killers of livestock! While I understand that livestock producers individually can be affected significantly, their trauma is only in the form of losing money, not the actual damage done to their livestock - which is pretty clear to see from their comments in the newspapers.
Also, please remember when Greg Mifsud says there's 3.1 million hectares where dingoes are protected in Victoria, majority of that land dingoes have already been locally extinct for decades! There are NO dingoes near Hamilton or Bendigo there are quite litterally the population in the high country/eastern Vic and the population in Big Desert/Wyperfeld National Park. Even Murray-Sunset and Hattah-Kulkyne National Parks in North West Victoria have NO dingoes!
