Posted on 11/02/2006 4:07:59 PM PST by blam
Bring dingoes back to stop species extinction
17:23 02 November 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Rachel Nowak
Dingoes may make a comeback
Bizarrely, reintroducing dingoes – Australia’s top natural predator – could improve the survival of smaller marsupial species that they often prey on, researchers say.
The Eastern hare-wallaby? Gone. The lesser bilby? Gone. In the past two centuries, 18 mammals have gone extinct in Australia, accounting for almost half the mammalian extinctions in the world over that time period.
Biologists usually blame that infamous record on a complex set of circumstances, including changes in how people use fire to clear land, the introduction of rabbits and disease, and sheep farming.
But, according to a surprise finding from a team led by Chris Johnson at James Cook University in Townsville, the true cause is far simpler – the persecution of mainland Australia’s one and only top predator, the dingo.
“Where there are no dingoes, introduced predators are rife, and up to 65% of ground-dwelling mammal species have disappeared,” says Johnson. “If dingoes hadn’t been so savagely persecuted, we wouldn’t have had this total catastrophe. There is no reason to think we won’t have more extinctions, if things stay as they are.”
Keystone species
According to ecologist Chris Dickman at the University of Sydney, the finding adds to “circumstantial and historical evidence” that dingoes protect small marsupials by reducing numbers of introduced predators, particularly the fox.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Friend of mine had a dingo dog. Funny looking animal, but smart.
Hey! I meant to ping you to #5, but I forgot.
The Carolina Yella' Dawg. I see 'um all over the southern counties.
Good looking dogs. The one on the right looks more like a Dixie Dingo than the one on the left.
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