The dingo

The dingo is medium-sized canine natively found on the Australian

continent and even into South-East Asia. The dingo is thought to have
once been a domestic dog that has returned to living in the wild now for
thousands of years.

The dingo can be found in a variety of habitatsthroughout the Australian

mainland and it's surrounding islands. Dingos are in both woodlands
and rainforests, shrublands and even on the outskirts of the arid
Australian deserts.

Due to the fact that the dingo (along with domestic dog breeds) is the
largest predatorfound on the land on the Australian continent, the dingo
is considered to be an apex predator and therefore plays a vital role in
the different ecosystems that occur across the continent.

Despite having once been domesticated, today the dingo lives a life
completely independent of humans, and dingos can be found in packs
containing around 10 dingo individuals. Some dingos
are nocturnal animals, where others are more active during the day, but
this depends on the climate where the dingo lives.
The dingo is a carnivorous animal and one of Australia's most
dominant predators. The dietof the dingo is similar to that of other pack-
canines such as wolves, as they hunt rabbits, rodents,
small mammals, lizards, birds, wallabys and even the occasional
kangaroo.
Due to the large size and dominant nature of the dingo, the dingo has no
real predatorswithin its natural environment besides humans who are
responsible for the destruction of the dingo's habitat, and the odd
crocodile.

Dingos breed once a year, generally before August in the south and after
August in the north. After a gestation period of around 2 months, the
female dingo gives birth to a litter of between 1 and 10 pups. The pups
are blind when they are first born but grow up quickly, as dingo pups
leave their mother and the den when they are 8 weeks old.

Today, mainly due to deforestation and habitat loss, the dingo is

considered to be an animalthat is vulnerable to extinction. In Australia,
the dingo is protected animal and part of their conservation work
includes ensuring that the dingo does not start interbreeding with
domestic dogs, therefore keeping the dingo as a species, pure.